


Blind Sight (COTK Book 1)

by Blackright709



Series: Child of the Kaminoki [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Byakugan, Gen, God-like, Otsutsuki, Rinnegan, Shinju - Freeform, Smart-Naruto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-01-16 15:24:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 76,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21273413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackright709/pseuds/Blackright709
Summary: Naruto, Prince of the Land of Wind, has gone as Miyasato his entire life, blind, and confined to the Daimyō's palace for his safety. People are after him, and as his eighth birthday draws near, it is decided he must train to become a Shinobi in Suna, despite being blind. Rasa and Gaara arrive at the palace, and Gaara decides he has to die. (Rewrite of Child of the Kaminoki, Book 1)





	1. Birthday Party

The pungent, coppery smell of blood was what made him finally decide to pay attention.

He had been ordered to stay here in the hotel room, so here he would stay. He usually didn't care about orders. However, it sounded like it was going badly out there. He wasn't going to help unless forced to.

Other than himself, there was one other person in the room. His stare made them turn away from the door and look him directly in the eyes, something most people wouldn't do.

He'd gotten used to being looked at directly by them, their pale pupil-less eyes seemingly unfocused, unmoving. It had surprised him the first time, he'd been sure they were blind.

They tilted their head toward the cracked and worn door, the wood it was made of decaying.

"They're losing," There was a hint of fear in Miyasato's voice that disgusted him. The boy was a weakling — Gaara could tell when he'd first seen the Land of Wind's only prince. Usually, weaklings weren't worth the effort it would take to kill them, but there was something about Miyasato that bothered him.

Gaara returned to looking at the mold patch on the wall directly in front of him, as he had been for the last twenty minutes. Miyasato shrugged and looked back toward the door, "I'd been sure the smell of blood would have riled you up."

The first time he'd tried to kill Miyasato, he'd been stopped by his father. There wasn't anyone to stop him this time. The sand in his gourd shifted, waiting for him to decide.

The sudden movement made him look at Miyasato, who'd gotten up and was quickly backing away from the door. A second later, the door burst open, sending shards of rotten wood everywhere. What remained crashed to the floor, knocking up a cloud of sand.

Gaara watched apathetically as three men stepped through the dust, one coughing heavily. There was panic and urgency in each of their eyes and on their faces. Something made him twitch as their eyes passed over him, all coming to focus on Miyasato. They completely ignored him.

"There he is," one coughed heavily, holding himself up with the door frame. Blood poured down his left arm from a wound in his shoulder. The other two, who looked to be in better shape, grabbed Miyasato, who tried to fight back.

Gaara watched as the two men tied Miyasato's hands together, jammed a sack over his head, and started roughly pulling him toward the exit.

"What about the other kid?"

The man at the door had finally stopped coughing and was tearing a strip of cloth from his shirt. Barely sparing Gaara a glance, the man returned his focus to his profusely bleeding wound.

"Useless, let's go."

They were ignoring him.

Gripping Miyasato's shoulder tightly, one stuck their head into the hallway.

"Is the coast clear — Ack!"

Turning back, the man found a sharp spike of sand only an inch from his face, protruding from the forehead of his companion. Before he was even able to scream, the sand-spike darted forward and impaled him through the head as well, then retracted, dropping both their limp bodies in the open doorway.

"No! Stop! What are you-!?"

Gaara narrowed his eyes as the last one, the man with a bleeding shoulder, tried to run, stumbling over his dead companion's outstretched arm. Sand darted forward, and the last one died impaled on a pike of sand through the chest.

Miyasato managed to wiggle his hands out of the hastily-tied rope and pulled the sack off his head. Standing up, he brushed what sand wasn't caked in blood off his clothes.

Gaara watched him return to his own bed, decrepit and falling apart as well, and sit down.

Neither said anything for a few minutes, the sounds of fighting outside dying down and the pools of blood under the two dead men in the doorway slowly growing.

"Thank you, Gaara."

Gaara ignored him.

**Kazekage Tower, Inner City Suna, Land of Wind, EN**

The soft footsteps echoed across the sandy surfaces as Rasa made his way through the corridor of cells, both occupied and empty. As he neared a little commotion at the end of it, he took off his triangular hat. He only wore it for special occasions, as it interfered with his ability to see.

"Rasa-sama," came from the grim-looking man in the Suna Jōnin attire - dark brown pants and shirt, sandals to match, and a sand-colored vest. As if trying to fit into his dull and unappealing visage, his face was perpetually in a scowl.

"Captain. I take it that the prisoner is in the cell?" The guard nodded, and he continued. "Have you happened to extract anything from him yet?"

"Unfortunately not, sir. His time in the desert took a toll on his wits. He won't stop babbling nonsense."

Sighing heavily, Rasa stroked his temples in thought. "If that goes on, we won't extract anything of use from him. I will have a talk with the perpetrator."

Bowing slightly, the man commanded the stationed guards to open the reinforced steel door, ushering the leader of Suna into almost blinding darkness, save for rays of light from the iron-barred opening in the wall. In the center of the room, sat the culprit and Suna interrogator across from one another at a plain wooden table, locked in a one-sided discussion.

"I'll ask you one more time: what is your purpose on the grounds of Suna?"

The two were a stark contrast, a collected Jonin, and a ragged man in a ruined and tattered robe, sunburnt skin littered all over his exposed flesh. Hunched over, he muttered something barely audible.

"Rasa-sama," came from the interrogator as he noticed Rasa and stood up.

The interrogator continued as he walked up to Rasa, "We've been taking turns interrogating the man for the past hour, no torture due to his condition."

"And?"

At that, the Shinobi deflated, his voice full of frustration. "Nothing on the case, sir, he won't answer any of our questions, as if a mute or deaf. But he won't stop talking of-"

"T-the stone, they have it..." came from the prisoner, his form spastically jolting in apparent pain.

"I see, I'll take it from here."

As Rasa dismissed the Jonin, he placed his hat on the table, taking the seat across from the man. His posture was ramrod straight, commanding regality and strength.

Having been left with the culprit, Rasa carefully inspected his face, riddled with baked flesh. Although his wounds were severe and disgusting to look at, what caught his eye was the haunted, ghostly gaze. Being a man of war, Rasa was used to facing death on the battlefield, often having to bear witness to a man drawing his last breath, their life flickering out. Although his victims were numerous, he could still see their faces. The eyes of the dead in his sleep were the same that stared at him now.

Cautiously trying to establish eye contact, he addressed the man. "The deserts are not kind to the unprepared. What made you suffer it so?"

As his trembling slowed a little, the prisoner lifted his head slowly, staring at something past the four walls. "It came from the shadows..."

Rasa listened intently.

"They chased me... claws, leaving no marks...steps, lacking footprints..." locking eyes for the first time with Rasa, his shaky voice came forth, "They have the stone."

"What stone? Who attacked you?"

At that, the man's eyes darted into the shadowy corner of the room, the blank expression on his face turned to one of terror. "They're still here, they're never gonna leave me! Not until what I saw dies with me..."

"Tell me who attacked you and we will help you."

From terror to utter desperation, he looked back again at Rasa.

"You don't understand, they have the stone! They are coming for me!" he said, darting eyes all around the room. "I can hear them breathing!"

"Calm down, sir-"

The man attempted to spring from his chair violently, but his restraints prevented it. "NO, NO! GET AWAY FROM ME, I BEG YOU!"

Rasa folded his hands in front of his face as he carefully studied the man.

"You have to help me!" The man screamed frantically, causing Rasa to wince a bit at the pitch. The tell-tale sound of insanity was creeping into his voice.

Rasa felt frustration bubbling up inside of him.

"You said someone is chasing you, who?" He demanded, bringing the frantic man's attention back to him.

"The shadows, they're here, in this room. "

Rasa sighed deeply and was about to ask another question when the cell door opened, revealing Baki holding a scroll in his outstretched hand.

"It's an urgent message from the Daimyō, Rasa-sama," Baki stated.

Standing, Rasa looked down at the man who had returned to mumbling incoherently under his breath. Shaking his head, he picked up his hat from the back of the chair and stepped around the table.

Taking the scroll from his second-in-command, he checked the seal. It was indeed the Daimyō's, and intact.

"Have the prisoner escorted to the Kumo Embassy and make sure he gets there safely," Rasa ordered as he broke the seal and unfurled the scroll.

Baki nodded and held the door open for Rasa who had stopped as he read the scroll. Finishing it, he rolled it back up.

"Also, send Gaara and Sasori to my office right away."

"Yes, Sir."

—

Even though he'd already memorized the scroll, he still popped the latch and unrolled it again. Scanning over it for anything he might have missed, he sighed, rolled it back up, and put it in a locked drawer in his desk.

Folding his hands in front of him, he stared blankly at the heavy wooden double doors at the front of his office. The room around him was sparsely decorated, decorations most of which had been here when he'd become Kazekage, and he'd just never removed them.

The desk was relatively new, he'd gotten it a few days after he'd taken up the position. While it weighed a ton and was carved and polished, it was extremely minimalistic.

It didn't really bother him, he didn't want to enjoy being in his office, and when he was in here, he wasn't paying attention to the decorations or lack thereof anyway.

The large double doors opened, causing him to blink and focus on who had entered. Smiling, he greeted the red-headed Puppeteer Captain, who bowed in response.

Moving to one of the two chairs in front of Rasa's desk, Sasori sat down.

Both turned toward the doorway as they sensed the familiar fear that seemed to haunt Gaara's every step. Neither of them was bothered by the low level of Killing Intent he steadily released.

Gaara ignored them and walked over to a corner in the room. Rasa watched him go and sighed silently. Sasori offered him a sympathetic shrug.

A moment of silence later Baki stepped through the doors Gaara had left open. Closing them, he hurried over to the only other available chair in the room. Though he did notice Gaara in the corner, he didn't look at him.

"Sorry for being late," Baki said, kicking Sasori's weak attempt to block his access to the chair with his leg.

"So, what's going on?" Sasori asked cheerfully and propped his feet up on Rasa's desk, causing the Kazekage to scowl. Sasori pretended not to notice as he pulled out a kunai and started fiddling with it.

Rasa shook his head, "I received an urgent message from the Daimyō, he wishes for me to be in Kazedama in three days."

Sasori leaned back in his chair, causing the wooden legs to squeak. Tossing the kunai in the air, he caught it between his fingers inches from his own face. Baki looked at him in annoyance.

"Isn't the prince's eighth birthday in three days?" Sasori asked, slamming the chair back down.

Rasa nodded, "Yes. I am to bring Gaara and two teams of Elite with me."

Sasori whistled in surprise, "Seems a little overkill for a birthday party, don't you think? The prince is one of the most heavily-guarded people in the Land of Wind, and for something like a birthday party, the security will be even higher. I've heard he hasn't even been seen in public for years."

"Whatever is going on, the Daimyō did not explain it in his summons. I'm sure he will explain it when we arrive."

Sasori raised an eyebrow at Rasa's choice of words before tapping his chin. "If we're bringing short, dark, and broody over there," he said as he jutted a thumb toward Gaara, "Then we will need to bring the seals, we got enough for two teams, you, and me."

The low level of Killing intent spiked slightly, but none of them reacted to it.

"Yes. I don't know how long we will be staying. Tell the teams to bring stealth gear and long term supplies. However, we will be entering the capital in plain sight."

"Cool, will get the boys together then," Sasori said before vanishing in a swirl of sand. The chair he'd been leaning back in fell the rest of the way and crashed into the ground.

Baki rolled his eyes before turning to Rasa.

"I'm assuming I'll be in charge while you're gone?" He inquired, and Rasa nodded.

"Yes, but don't announce the visit to Kazedama until tomorrow. You can tell Temari and Kankuro right away, however."

"Understood."

**Outside Kazedama, Land of Wind, EN**

Though Rasa hadn't been alive to see it, the Land of Wind had once been a thriving paradise. Everyone had wanted to live here with its peaceful breezes and winds. Which had been how it had gotten its name apparently.

Many clans had made their home here during the Warring Clans Era, including his own. Clans had been coming and going since before there were records. Though some like the Uchiha, and Hyūga had been around since before any records.

However, over several hundred years, the Land of Wind had slowly withered and dried out. Sand had risen from beneath the fertile ground, and choked out the trees. The winds became sharp and violent, stirring up massive sandstorms.

The clans had been forced to move, the water drying up, and the beasts of prey fleeing to better lands.

It was a story his father had told him.

Rasa chuckled. For some reason, after the end of the Warring Clans Era, the Land of Wind's forefathers had decided this barren wasteland was the place to build their country.

In the forty-odd years since the Wind Country had been founded, not much had changed. The desert was as barren and lifeless as it had always been. The hot sun beat down relentlessly on those that were brave, stupid, or unlucky enough to live here.

Although, if he had to give a benefit to this country's terrain, he'd say it was that it weeded out the weak from the strong very quickly. The Shinobi Academy in Suna's final test was to survive two weeks alone in the desert.

Most survived, having grown up in the hot, unforgiving wasteland their entire life. However, the bodies of those that didn't survive were returned to their families to be buried.

He did wish that the desert was more hospitable to roads, but its shifting surface made anything permanent difficult. For Shinobi, roads were actually more of a danger than they were helpful. It took a Jounin three days to travel from Suna to Kazedama.

No, the best use of them would be for civilian travel. It would reduce the number of civilian deaths and pointless search missions that never resulted in the bodies being found.

However, some roads had been built despite the odds. The two best examples were the hundreds of roads constructed throughout the Land of Wind's many cities, and the Silk Road, which had taken three years to finish.

It stretched for hundreds of miles across the country, beginning in Kazedama and ending in Dango City. Cresting yet another sand dune, the Silk Road came into view in the south. Several small dots traveled across it, some larger than others as civilians pulled carts behind them.

Periodic cleaning of the sandstone brick surface of the Silk Road was a typical D-rank mission for the Shinobi Genin of the cities and villages along the road. Luckily, not something he'd ever had to do personally. Suna was in the opposite direction of the Silk Road.

Turning toward the east, Rasa smiled as he once more saw the Land of Wind's beautiful capital, Kazedama.

Snapping his fingers, he leaped off the sand dune, closely followed by the Shinobi traveling with him. Gaara lagged behind, watching everyone land below before vanishing and reappearing near the group.

They only had to walk about a half mile before the desert gave way to the dead-end of a sandstone brick road. The unfinished beginnings of the road to Suna.

Rasa raised an eyebrow at the number of buildings, shops, and homes now built up outside Kazedama's high walls. The city had not been designed with being the capital in mind and had eventually begun to overflow the walls. Houses were built outside the walls to house the ever-growing number of people living here.

As Rasa and his Shinobi walked down the street, the civilians nearby moved to the sides of the road. His bright white Kazekage robes made them stand out from other Shinobi, though Gaara's Killing Intent made the most significant impact. People were looking around as they began to feel just slightly afraid, trying to find out why.

Gaara's reputation preceded him, and people got away with a bit more energy than was entirely needed.

Sasori discretely signaled to the Elite team, and four of the Shinobi dropped back to include Gaara in the circle. Surrounding Gaara wasn't a brilliant idea at the best of times, but Gaara didn't seem to care.

The large gate into the inner part of the city loomed above them, though there were hardly any shadows. The sun was now at its highest point, and the heat was at its worst.

Rasa watched from under his hat as one of the gate guards saw them and stepped inside a nearby building.

A moment later, a Kunoichi with dirty blonde hair stepped out of the building and started walking toward them.

"Kanade!" Sasori said, greeting the approaching Kunoichi with one of his trademark grins. Rasa watched in amusement as the Kunoichi groaned.

"Sasori… why didn't I realize you'd be coming?" she said, reluctantly shaking the Puppeteer Captain's hand.

"Did you miss me?" Sasori inquired hopefully.

"No."

Sasori seemed to have not heard her and continued on, "You're here to lead us to the palace, right?"

Kanade nodded, "Hai. First, I need to make sure that you have the Jinchuriki under control?"

Gaara noticed her stare and stared back at her. He didn't react as she released Killing Intent just slightly higher than he was. Was she going to fight him right now? Gaara felt the sand in his gourd shift.

Rasa glanced over his shoulder and noticed Gaara's expression. Pulling a seal tag from his back pouch, he deliberately moved it through Gaara's line of sight before handing it to Kanade. The killing intent his son was releasing dropped drastically.

Pulling her gaze away from the red-headed Jinchuriki, she looked at the tag skeptically. She wasn't a professional in seals or even that knowledgeable, but she knew what this was.

"Only one?"

"No Ma'am, we all have one." Hori, one of the Elite Shinobi closest answered, holding up an identical seal.

Kanade's eyes narrowed, clearly unsure. Glancing between Hori, Gaara, Rasa, and the seal in her hands repeatedly, she finally handed the seal back to Rasa, who pocketed it.

Rasa could tell the Kunoichi was clearly unhappy with the situation, and her gut feeling was probably being overridden by orders from the Daimyō. He couldn't blame her; he himself believed that bringing Gaara here was a bad idea. But orders were orders.

The trip from the wall to the palace took only a few minutes, mostly because Gaara's presence cleared any street they were on within moments. He made a few inquiries as to the specifics of the situation, but Kanade only told him that the Daimyō would talk to him about it himself.

So he tried to take in what he could about the city as they walked. It had changed a lot since he'd last been here more than half a decade ago. The buildings were different, redesigned, taller. Rasa was surprised to notice a Shinobi-only restaurant on the top floor of the building nearby, a wide entrance balcony extending from the front.

The palace guards opened the gates ahead of them, and the group began climbing the many steps to the palace. A beautifully decorated courtyard, filled with plants that definitely weren't native to the Land of Wind, gave way to another set of stairs that stopped at the large doors to the throne room.

Kanade opened the doors with a firm push and stepped aside.

Rasa smiled as he spotted the Daimyō sitting on the throne on the other side of the large room. The ornate throne glittered in the sunlight streaming in from above as it reflected off the solid gold.

The Daimyō stood, and Rasa spotted several things that concerned him.

"Rasa, my friend, thank you for coming on such short notice."

The bandaged arm in a sling, the stumble as he stood, steadied by one of the two guards by him. Rasa felt anger rise up, his shoulders tensing slightly. Someone had attacked the Daimyō.

Raising his hand, the Daimyō stopped him before he hurried across the room.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me."

The group stopped at the base of the small flight of stairs to the throne, waiting for the Daimyō as he walked down

"Welcome to the Capital, Rasa. It is good to have you back. Our great city rejoices and all that."

Rasa smiled laconically, "I'm sure the city doesn't care, Torio."

Torio grinned in response, "Yeah, you're right. It probably doesn't."

Coming together in an awkward hug, Rasa did his best not to touch Torio's bandaged arm.

"What happened?" Rasa asked as soon as they separated. Torio laughed.

"Always straight to the point, but don't worry about it right now, we'll discuss it later. You and I both know I've survived worse than this." Torio said as he gestured to his arm.

Rasa nodded in agreement, "Nevertheless, I am concerned."

"Of course, of course. As I said before, thank you for coming on such short notice. You've made it just in time for Miyasato's birthday celebration tonight."

Accepting that he would have to wait for his answers, Rasa moved on.

"This is my youngest son, Gaara." He said, stepping slightly to the side. His hand hovered near his pouch, ready to pull out the seal if necessary.

"I'm glad to finally meet you, Gaara of the Sand."

Torio wasn't bothered as the redhead ignored him, and Rasa gestured to the other redhead in the room.

"This is Sasori of the Red Sands, and Captain of the Puppeteers."

"Pleasure to meet you, Sasori-san," Torio said kindly, shaking hands with Captain.

"The feeling is mutual, Torio-sama," Sasori replied with uncharacteristic respect. "How is your son? I'm unsure as to the truth of the rumors I have heard, but has he really never left this palace?"

Gaara glanced toward the Daimyō briefly.

Torio shook his head, almost sadly. "No, he has not. For his own safety, he isn't allowed to leave, though I doubt he would have any desire to leave even if I let him."

"Will we be meeting him?" Sasori inquired.

Torio nodded, "Of course, he'll be here shortly."

* * *

Thank you for reading this chapter. New chapters are typically released _every_ week on Friday. 6 to 12 more chapters are **always** in development over at our discord: **yewTGGX**  
Join to read and contribute to rough drafts, drafts, and release candidates before they’re finalized.  
  
This chapter was posted on: 11/1/19  
  
Special thanks to those that helped create this chapter:

  * Hellman, who help with the imagery of the second scene. Much appreciated.

Beta Readers:

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OC Creators of OC’s in this chapter:

  * Kanade (Created and submitted by Grimtruth)


	2. Chapter 2: Secret Attaks

**CHAPTER 2: Secret Attacks**

**Daimyō's Palace, Kazedama, Land of Wind, EN.**

Rasa's attention was drawn away from the Daimyō as a door was pushed open to their left. Torio turned around, following where he was looking.

A young boy, followed by a servant who had a hand on their shoulder, had just entered the room.

"Ah, Miyasato, over here," Torio said, confusing Rasa.

_He's blind,_ Rasa realized as Miyasato changed directions sharply, turning toward his father's voice. Rasa hadn't noticed his eyes at first, having been confused by the servant holding on to Miyasato's shoulder. The servant was acting as a guide for the boy, making sure he didn't run into anything.

"Father," Miyasato said, giving a bow. He didn't turn toward Rasa or the Shinobi with him, only staring blankly toward Torio.

Torio walked up beside his son and turned him toward Rasa.

"As I'm sure you can tell, my son is blind and has been since birth."

"My name is Miyasato Sakamoto; it is a pleasure to meet you." The boy extended his hand in front of him, though not toward anyone specifically. Rasa smiled and stepped forward, taking the boy's hand.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Miyasato-sama. My name is Rasa."

"You are the Kazekage? My father has told me much about you."

"Yes," Rasa replied, getting a small nod from Miyasato. He looked up as Kanade appeared in a swirl of sand next to Miyasato, her eyes focused on something behind him.

Rasa turned quickly, finding Gaara staring intently at Miyasato. There was no Killing Intent coming from Gaara, which was unusual, but he located the sealing tag in his pocket nevertheless. His men did the same, each spreading out slightly, prepared to restrain Gaara if necessary.

"Who are you?" Miyasato asked behind him, making him glance back at the boy. Miyasato had turned his head slightly, looking more in Gaara's direction. Rasa looked at Torio, but his friend seemed unconcerned by the situation. Kanade, however, had her hand on the fan strapped to her back.

"Gaara."

Miyasato bowed slightly. Gaara's eyes narrowed, making Rasa pull the seal from his pocket. He hoped his son wouldn't be stupid enough to try to attack the prince, but it was possible.

Gaara folded his arms in front of him, "You're weak."

Sasori stepped out of Gaara's way as the red-headed Jinchuriki walked toward the open doorway. Rasa signaled his men to follow Gaara.

"I assume you have a place for us to stay?" Rasa asked, getting a nod from Torio.

"Kanade, please make sure they find their rooms," Torio ordered, getting a nod from the Kunoichi, who vanished in a swirl of sand a second later.

"My apologies," Rasa offered. Torio nodded, understanding.

"Don't worry about it. I took precautions regarding your son. His reputation is nothing to be scoffed at."

Torio still had his non-bandaged hand on Miyasato's shoulder, who was looking out across the throne room blankly.

"I'd like to go to my room," Miyasato stated, getting a nod from Torio.

"Riko-san? Please take my son back to his room."

"Of course, Torio-sama."

Miyasato accepted Riko's grip on his hand, following the servant out of the throne room. Rasa turned back toward Torio, skepticism on his face. Torio raised an eyebrow.

"He's not blind, is he?" Rasa asked.

Torio sighed, "We will talk later. Please, see to your son and the accommodations I had prepared for him and see if they are acceptable."

Rasa hesitated before nodding, leaving the room by the exit Gaara had taken.

He had to ask a servant to point him toward where Gaara was staying, unable to sense him, which was unsettling. Walking briskly down a hallway, he spotted a palace guard at the end of the hall. The guard bowed before opening the door ahead of him, and he was immediately able to sense Gaara inside. Rasa wasn't sure why placing a Chakra Signature Blocking Seal was necessary, but clearly, his son's room had one. Stepping inside, he could see the other signature he'd detected in the room.

"Rasa-sama, I was just making sure my buddy here was settled in."

Sitting on the bed was Gaara, staring at him blankly. To the right of the entrance, leaning against a wardrobe was Asurami. Rasa had met him before, a little over a year ago.

"Asurami-san, it's good to see you again."

The Shinobi hadn't changed much. His sandy brown hair was still cut short. His clothes were different, now wearing the uniform of a Daimyō Guard as opposed to his dirt-colored camo suit. Rasa thought perhaps he'd put on some more muscle since joining Torio's Guard, though Asurami was still tall and lean, similar to most of his clan.

Asurami took off his mask, and Rasa was once again able to see the rare Kekkei Genkai the man possessed.

It only happened every couple of generations, and even then it was rare. The left side of the man's face was scaled, a rattlesnake-like pattern on it. Both of his eyes were yellow with vertical pupils, and his tongue was slim and forked like a snake.

"I was surprised when I heard you joined the Daimyō's guard," Rasa commented as he looked around the room, noticing the lack of windows. It was richly decorated, but highly secure as well. He could sense the iron in the walls, at least two inches thick. It was, in essence, a decorated prison cell.

"I got bored chasing down bounties, and the offer had been standing for a while," Asurami replied casually, his forked tongue darting out and testing the air before vanishing. Pushing off the wardrobe, the snake shinobi looked toward Gaara, who stared back.

"Settled in here, Gaara?" Without waiting for a response, Asurami walked toward the exit. "Okay, good. If you'll follow me, Rasa-sama?"

Rasa nodded and followed the man out of the room, the palace guard closing and locking the heavy metal door behind them.

"I assume you're in charge of security for Gaara?" Rasa asked. Asurami nodded.

"Yes, I have the most experience with your son, and I think I understand him pretty well."

Rasa sighed, agreeing with the Snake Shinobi. "You probably know him better than I do, to be honest."

When Asurami had come to Suna, before becoming a part of the Daimyō's guard, he'd been hunting down a professional criminal. Whoever had hired Asurami had failed to keep the mission a secret. The criminal learned that Asurami was coming for him and fled through Suna, heading toward the border.

Asurami asked Rasa to send someone with him to help, as he was concerned about running into a trap. Rasa decided to send Gaara. His son hadn't been on a mission in a while at the time, and civilian deaths were rising. It had been better for everyone to get Gaara out of Suna.

The mission had taken a week to locate and kill the criminal, and during that time, Asurami had come to understand Gaara somewhat. Mostly through fighting, as the Jinchuriki had tried to kill him multiple times. Rasa had warned him about the possibility beforehand though, so he'd been on guard.

Asurami shrugged, deciding not to continue the point.

"I have two criminals who are to be executed in a few days nearby..."

Rasa nodded.

"I'll have Sasori give you one of the seals."

"Thank you. If you're going to Torio-sama next, he'll most likely be in the kitchen." Asurami offered.

"Thank you."

"Don't be surprised if he's taken over the entire kitchen by himself. Really pisses off the servants when he does that," Asurami called after him.

As Rasa stepped into the adjacent hallway, he barely heard the end of what Asurami was saying. Something about the servants complaining about Torio doing their job for them, and how useless it was to complain. Rasa wasn't paying much attention.

Luckily, he'd passed the kitchen on his way earlier, so he didn't have to ask for directions this time. The palace hadn't changed its physical layout in the last eight years; however, the decorations were entirely different and didn't match his memories of the place. He'd never really liked the palace anyway and had rarely spent much time here before becoming the Kazekage.

Arriving at the entrance to the kitchen, he had to step out of the way of several servants carrying large plates of food. They all apologized profusely, turning and walking sideways as they hurried past him. Catching the closing door, he slipped inside.

He was still wearing his Kazekage robes, so he stopped just inside the doorway, noticing bits of food and liquids on the carved stone floor.

Scanning across the busy room, he located Torio near the back, standing next to one of the chefs. They looked to be conversing intensely about the bubbling pot of stew in front of them.

Rasa couldn't hear them over the din of conversations, and movement in the kitchen. Contemplating what to do, he heard Torio's voice suddenly over the noise.

"Fine!" Torio yelled in exasperation. "Do it your way. It'll be entirely your fault when it's terrible!"

"As if! If it's the best stew you've ever had, you'll just take credit for it, Torio-sama!" The chef yelled over his shoulder as he returned to stirring the pot.

Torio turned toward him and waved, making his way slowly through the crowded and hectic kitchen. A moment later he stepped up the small flight of stairs to the entrance of the room, next to Rasa.

"Apologies, I didn't notice you'd come in," Torio said, gesturing toward the doorway. "Let's go somewhere quieter to talk."

When someone thinks of a palace, the first things that come to mind are usually "massive in size, expensive, and filled to the brim with decorations and items that cost a fortune each."

Rasa certainly hadn't expected to find the third floor of the palace completely barren, only a few torches here and there. The decorations he remembered were all gone. Even the walls had been stripped down to the paneling and supports.

Every door in the hallway they were walking down was open, the rooms beyond barely lit or not at all.

"I've never had any use for the third and fourth floors of this place, so I had everything in them sold and used the money for other things," Torio explained as he limped along beside Rasa. They were heading toward the one closed door in the hallway.

Rasa nodded, agreeing with Torio's decision. He had always wondered why the previous Daimyō hadn't done the same. The man hadn't cared for material objects either. No one ever came up this high in the palace anyway.

As they reached the door, Torio waved his hand, and it swung open ahead of them. Rasa shook his head and chuckled, amused by the small trick. It had become prevalent among Shinobi a few years past, started by the Puppeteer brigade in Suna. It was so overdone by this point that it was rare to find a civilian impressed by it.

They stepped out onto a surprisingly well-lit balcony, the extensive palace gardens sprawling out on the ground dozens of feet below them. The sun was slowly setting over the mountains in the north, casting a warm light over the palace. The cooling night winds had reached Kazedama and were a welcome relief from the hot day.

Torio sat down in one of the two chairs on the balcony with a small wince, offering the other to Rasa, who politely declined.

"I don't remember the garden being this... beautiful," Rasa commented. The garden hadn't seen a lot of care in the previous Daimyō's reign, but it was full of exotic life now. Every section had different plants, the colors contrasting with each other exquisitely.

Torio chuckled, "I wish I could take credit for that. However, it isn't something that interests me. No, that's all Miyasato's work, a hobby of his."

Rasa looked over at Torio. His eyebrows raised expectantly.

Torio nodded slowly, "Yes, Miyasato isn't blind."

Looking back at the garden, Rasa spotted several servants moving along the paths, lighting up lanterns.

"So that was the Byakugan."

"Yes."

The silence seemed to drag on, and Torio could tell Rasa was trying to figure out how something so impossible, was possible.

"How?"

"I'm sure I don't have to explain how confidential and secret this is, but I will anyway. You will not speak to anyone of this." Torio's tone made Rasa straighten his back, recalling the memories of his friend giving orders to the Shinobi under him, commanding respect and obedience. It was undoubtedly an order, the second one Torio had directly given him.

The first had been during the end of the Second Great Shinobi War, Torio's leadership the sole reason they won the last battle. Rasa's throat constricted as he recalled the horrible stench of that final battlefield. The bodies of hundreds of his comrades and enemies strewn about him.

"Of course," Rasa replied sharply.

Torio sighed, his posture deflating as he sunk into his chair. Rasa stepped away from the balcony and took his seat.

"I don't possess the Byakugan, and to my knowledge, I don't have any Hyuga heritage," Torio began. "Furthermore, the Byakugan, to my understanding, is either something you have, or you don't. I couldn't find anything to prove that it could be a recessive trait."

Rasa propped his elbows on his knees, folding his hands in front of him as he supported his head with his hands.

"Miyasato isn't your child," Rasa said after a moment's silence. It wasn't a guess.

Torio nodded, "I don't know who his father is either."

Rasa took a deep breath through his nose and leaned back in his chair, "Yura cheated on you?"

Torio stared at the floor and didn't answer for a few moments. "I only found out about it when she tried to have the child aborted secretly. The Captain of her guard came to me and requested that my guard follow her, as she'd dismissed her guard without explaining why and he was concerned."

"And you kept it secret because you loved her and couldn't stand to see her reputation ruined," Rasa guessed, getting a silent nod.

Torio took another deep breath, "I put her under constant guard, and made sure the baby was brought successfully into the world."

Rasa heard his friend's voice crack ever so slightly.

"She hated me, Rasa. I never could understand why. She refused to tell me who the father was." Torio shook his head, finally leaning back in his chair, having to adjust his bandaged arm carefully. "As you know, she died of an illness when Miyasato was three, and he doesn't remember her."

Rasa stayed silent, noticing that Torio was nervously rotating the wedding band he still wore.

"So, I claimed Miyasato as my son, and he isn't aware that I'm not his biological father. I intend to keep it that way for as long as I can, but I fear tonight is the beginning of the end of that."

"What do you mean?"

"Miyasato is smart, brilliant even. I taught him how to unlock his chakra at five, as is customary, and he figured out how to use the Byakugan a few months afterward. Since then, he rarely deactivates it."

"So he can see us right now?" Rasa inquired curiously. He hadn't noticed any Byakugan blocking seals.

Torio nodded, "Yes, but I set several rules for him. Not spying on my conversations was one of those."

Rasa was skeptical, "Do you think he's following that?"

Torio just shrugged, turning and looking out at the mountains, the last little bit of the sun disappearing. "The seals required to prevent Byakugan sight are a closely guarded secret of the Land of Fire, and on top of that, the Uzumaki invented them."

Rasa understood. Torio had a lot of visitors as the Daimyō of the Land of Wind. Diplomats, other leaders, Shinobi, and Clan Heads, among others. Occasionally, Uzumaki would come to Kazedama to purchase specific plants for their sealing.

The Uzumaki Clan had an uncanny ability to sense seals, especially ones that their clan designed. At the very least, it seemed like they could sense them. It was better not to risk it. The Uzumaki was famously protective of their work.

"Because of these complications, I had to take measures to keep Miyasato safe. That's why he's never been seen by anyone outside of the palace. Miyasato isn't even his real name."

Rasa raised an eyebrow, surprised. "I can understand keeping him out of the sight of the public, the Land of Fire would have a huge problem with someone outside of the Hyuga clan having the Byakugan. On the other hand, I don't understand why you have him go under a fake name?"

"Do you remember Yabūchi?"

Rasa nodded. Yabūchi had been the Daimyō before Torio's predecessor and had been a complete disaster, unfit to rule. He'd given his Shinobi orders which put them in danger and were impossible to complete. He demanded things that only benefited him and harmed the Land of Wind. This over-sized palace had been built on his orders and filled to the brim with useless, expensive decorations.

"Even though that man was horrible, my predecessor was the complete opposite. Nevertheless, he grew up in a similarly rich family here in Kazedama." Torio left the thought unfinished.

There wasn't much Rasa remembered about Yabūchi, having been very young during the Daimyō's reign, so he waited for Torio to continue.

"The difference, Rasa, is that my predecessor went through the Academy and became a Shinobi, and Yabūchi didn't."

Rasa tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair, "You want Miyasato to become a Shinobi?"

Torio nodded, "Yes, it helps with character, maturity, leadership, strength, and will give him the ability to defend himself... His life isn't going to be easy."

"So how do I play into this? You mentioned an attack in my summons. How long ago did it happen? I haven't seen anything to indicate an attack here on the palace."

"I did, yes." Torio seemed to psych himself up. Rasa narrowed his eyes. "The first attack was a little over two years ago. They came after only me the first time."

Rasa sat up abruptly, "Why am I only hearing about this now?"

Torio could tell his friend was upset; it was apparent from the complete lack of emotion in Rasa's voice. He hadn't seen Rasa get visibly angry many times in their friendship, and hoped today wouldn't be another.

"Secrecy," Torio took a deep breath, looking away from Rasa. "The group that has been attacking me is somehow aware of my Kekkei Genkai—"

Rasa stood abruptly, "That's impossible!"

Torio dismally shook his head, "Someone must have seen me use it, Rasa, someone we missed."

He didn't look up as Rasa began to pace back and forth on the balcony.

"The group is good, really good. We barely managed to defeat the first attack, a team of ten."

Rasa stopped pacing, coming to a stop at the railing. Torio heard the sound of wood cracking as Rasa crushed the balcony railing under his hands.

"Kanade can give you a much better explanation than I can. She's been in charge of the defense since the first night. My previous Captain, Yayoi, died defending me that night."

Kanade had appeared when Torio spoke her name, standing behind and to the left of Torio's chair. Attached to her back were two massive folded up war fans.

Clearing her throat, she began. "The first attack was sudden and unexpected. We barely noticed their presence in the palace mere seconds before they attacked. The group is extremely skilled at remaining hidden, nearly invisible to sight and chakra sense."

"Do they have a name?" Rasa asked, releasing his grip on the railing as he calmed himself down. It infuriated him that Torio hadn't told him about this threat before. He was the Kazekage, damn it, this was his job.

"We don't know their name, but we have been referring to them as the Assassins for now. As Torio-sama said, the first attack was targeted at him. We did hundreds of searches and found nothing. Three weeks later, they attacked again."

Rasa had calmed down enough to sit back down and was listening intently, his face an emotionless mask.

"For the first six months, they attacked about every three weeks. Since then, the time between attacks has steadily grown." Kanade sighed, "We have never been able to tell which one was the leader out of the group of ten that attacks each time. All of them wear pitch-black ANBU-style clothing underneath a large, similarly-colored cloak with a large hood. We've never seen any of their faces either."

Rasa's face clearly expressed his disbelief. "How is that possible?"

"Suicide," Kanade deadpanned, "We've killed a large number of them, even caught a few alive, however they all suicide before being identified."

Rasa shook his head, realizing what Kanade was talking about, "It's probably a seal above the heart, which they can activate willingly, and most likely, it activates when they die, completely incinerating their body almost instantly."

"I've seen that before when I was young. I went on a mission to hunt down a missing-nin, who had several subordinates, Chūnin-level missing-nin mostly. All of them had that seal because their boss didn't trust them," Rasa said, getting a nod from Kanade. It made sense, it ultimately prevented them from being tortured for information, or even identified.

Torio chuckled dryly, "It gets worse."

"One got away during the first attack, and when they attacked again, they went after both Torio-sama and Miyasato-sama. There were ten of them again, splitting into groups of five. It was one of the strongest attacks we've had from them. We were prepared; otherwise, we would have lost."

Torio nodded in agreement, "I was forced to use my Kekkei Genkai to kill them before rushing to Miyasato and helping the guards."

Rasa was shocked, and Torio could only smile grimly.

"The Assassins are extremely strong and patient. We had hoped they'd given up since they hadn't attacked in nearly four months before this most recent attack. However, with this most recent one, they've attacked eleven times in two years. Additionally, it's always been eight to ten Assassins."

"Why haven't they attacked with more Shinobi?" Rasa asked.

"You've not been here in some time, Rasa. In recent years, the other four of the Great Five have put their embassies extremely close to this palace." Torio explained and Rasa immediately understood and was impressed.

"They don't want the secret of your Kekkai Genkai getting out any more than we do," Rasa said, thinking out loud. Torio only nodded.

"Do they know Miyasato has the Byakugan?" Rasa asked. Kanade shook her head.

"As far as we know... no. It's possible, though. We believe they are going after Miyasato because they think he has Torio-sama's Kekkai Genkai. If not that, then to use him as blackmail."

Torio sighed, chuckling to himself, though there was no joy in it. "I think you can understand my situation now, Rasa. The Assassins are just as paranoid as we are about another country learning of my Kekkai Genkai. Which means, I can't do anything to make any country suspicious."

Rasa finally let his anger go, "You didn't call me because a reason would have to be obvious that held up under scrutiny. I only got Gaara under control this year, and it wouldn't make sense for me to leave Suna during that. So, you summoned me here under the pretense of attending Miyasato's birthday."

Torio nodded, smiling wryly. "Yes, but you should also try to enjoy the party."

"You were also summoned because the situation changed last week. For the first time, the Assassins attacked with a group of eighteen. We lost five of the Daimyō's guard, and thirty of the Royal Palace Guard. Torio-sama was badly injured, and we only won due to his Kekkei Genkai," concluded Kanade.

"What do I need to do?"

* * *

Thank you for reading this chapter. New chapters are typically released _every_ week on Friday. 6 to 12 more chapters are **always** in development over at our discord: **yewTGGX**  
**Join to read and contribute to rough drafts, drafts, and release candidates before they're finalized!**

This chapter was posted on: 11/8/19

**Special thanks to those that helped create this chapter:**

**Beta Readers:**

Tensleep  
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**OC Creators of OC's in this chapter:**

Kanade (Created by Grimtruth)

Asurami (Created by Grimtruth)

All other OC's created by Blackright709


	3. Chapter 3: Gaara's Mark

**CHAPTER 3: Gaara's Mark**

**Kazekage Tower, Suna, Land of Wind, EN.**

Every time he covered for Rasa, the dread of one day becoming Kazekage himself got a little bigger.

Clipping the scroll closed, Baki dropped it into one of the large desk's many drawers and closed it. Rubbing his face, he tried to wake himself back up, but it wasn't working very well. It was late, really late. He wasn't anywhere near as good as Rasa was at shifting through the dozens of requests, reports, and spending bills.

While the Kazekage certainly stretched his legs more often than, say the Daimyō did, the position still had way too much paperwork. Especially during times of peace. Baki had declined two different requests to build a night club in the exact same place. They had enough of those as it was already.

Everything had to be looked at from several standpoints. Whether or not it would harm the city's security, how the population would receive it, could they afford it, did it benefit the city as a whole?

Baki chuckled. Rasa had stopped caring about what a lot of the civilians and even the Shinobi population thought of his decisions sometime ago. Baki respected that.

He had just stood up, deciding to quit for the night when a Shinobi threw the doors open, failing to knock entirely. They were lucky Rasa wasn't here right now, he hated when someone did that.

"Baki-sama! The Kumo Embassy has been attacked!" the Shinobi, Miyazawa, shouted. He barely managed to slow down before colliding with the desk, having to take a second to catch his breath.

By the time he did, Baki was already gone. Shaking his head, he turned around and sprinted back down the hallway.

Reaching the window at the end of the hall, Baki threw it open and jumped out, landing on the curved roof below. Leaping into the air, he landed on a nearby rooftop, keeping his momentum.

It only took him a few minutes to make it to the embassy, but it felt like years. He could sense the team of Elite Shinobi, one of which was sitting on the roof of the embassy, manipulating a low-level Genjutsu and preventing the passing civilians from noticing the rest inside.

It was always best to keep civilians out of the loop.

"There you are. Took you long enough." Ochida commented as Baki touched down on the roof of the building adjacent to the deathly-quiet embassy.

"What's the situation?" Baki demanded. Ochida tended to be uncooperative with him, though the Senior Puppeteer always listened to Sasori of all people.

"Five dead. One of which was the prisoner we delivered to them four days ago."

"How long have they been dead?"

Ochida took a cigarette out of his kunai pouch and put it in his mouth, the edge catching on fire out of thin air. He inhaled deeply before replying, "Guess."

Baki rubbed his face. His eyes badly wanted to shut, but he had to deal with this now. Something made him suspect he probably wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

A junior Puppeteer appeared on the roof in a swirl of sand. They took their sweet time brushing the sand off their clothes before acknowledging those present. Ochida scoffed.

"Everyone inside has been dead for four days, each died from having their throats cut open and bleeding out." Reijiro said, "We've been unable to find any trace of the attackers so far."

"We need to inform Kumo of this immediately," Baki decided, Reijiro nodded.

"I'll wake up Hamada then," Reijiro said, vanishing in a swirl of sand a second later.

"Shouldn't we inform Rasa-sama about this first?" Miyazawa inquired.

Baki shook his head, "We don't have the time. They unquestionably had a regular time to communicate with Kumo, chances are they've missed that date at least once."

Baki turned back toward the tower and initiated a shunshin, vanishing from the rooftop. If he didn't play his cards right, then Kumo could decide to go to war with them, and it would most definitely be his fault. The power-hungry country just needed a reason at this point.

**Daimyō's Palace, Kazedama City, Land of Wind, EN.**

Rasa was shocked. At a complete loss for words, all he could manage was a nod.

Torio understood how his friend felt, but this was necessary.

"How is it coming along?" Torio asked, having turned to look at Kanade, standing at attention as she had been for the last hour. He was extremely grateful that she'd been the one to accept his request to the Wind Sage more than four years ago. Without her, he probably wouldn't be alive.

"As you ordered, sir. It took him a half-hour to reach the garden." She said tersely.

Rasa looked at Kanade in confusion. Getting to his feet, he walked up to the balcony and looked down at the vast garden below. "What's happening?"

"Gaara's in the garden," Torio replied calmly. Rasa started to leap over the balcony, but Torio's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "This needs to happen."

Rasa was torn between trusting his friend and his instinct. It wasn't an order, Torio was giving him a choice to trust him. Taking a deep breath, he backed away from the railing.

"This is too soon, Torio," Rasa argued.

Torio shook his head, "This is the best time."

Rasa sat down in defeat, "So we just wait?"

Torio nodded.

Looking out at the garden, he spotted his son at his favorite place in the garden: A large rock in the center of the biggest pond.

The sun had finally disappeared beyond the mountains. The moon just beginning to shine around the edges of the palace; it wouldn't be visible for several hours.

Miyasato regretted that he wouldn't be able to see the Jessamine flowers open tonight. A white rabbit peeked its head out of the bushes to his left, sniffing the air.

Deciding it was safe, the furry creature ventured out onto the path around the lake. Its mate followed behind it as they hopped to the edge of the water. A merchant had been selling them in the market square a couple of months ago, and he'd seen them from the palace.

One of the guards had gone and bought them for him before someone purchased them to be eaten. White rabbits were scarce in the Land of Wind, usually dying as babies. He'd nurtured them back to health, and they now lived in the garden. It was the right thing.

Looking toward the Palace, Miyasato could see his father talking to the Kazekage on a balcony high above him. He turned away quickly, not wishing to intrude on his father.

Instead, he found the Koi fish in the water beneath him. Having brought food for them, he pulled the small bag out of his pocket and scattered its contents across the surface of the pond.

He smiled, watching the fish gobble up the bread crumbs.

Something moved in the trees behind him and Miyasato froze. It was Gaara, staring at him from the cover of the shadows. He hadn't seen the Jinchuriki leave the palace, but obviously, he'd gotten past the guards.

Sand poured silently onto the ground around him from his gourd as he crouched in the trees. He'd been watching Miyasato for several minutes now, and no one had shown up to protect him. He couldn't sense any guards, but that didn't mean anything.

What was important was if they could detect him, and he was beginning to suspect that they couldn't.

Stepping silently out of the trees, Gaara stopped at the edge of the pond, staring at Miyasato, who had his back to him.

He waited. No one appeared, no one tried to stop him. Raising his hand, the sand around him lifted into the air, undulating around him.

"Are you going to enjoy killing me, Gaara?"

Clenching his fist, sand formed into a spike in the air next to him.

"Yes."

The spike started to spin.

"I would enjoy killing you too."

Punching forward, the sand flew toward Miyasato's chest. His head pounded, blood rushing in his ears as the spike drew closer to Miyasato's chest. He'd savor the feel of their blood. _Mother will be happy._

Gaara barely sensed the chakra surge behind him before his sand spike exploded.

He tried to move his arm to command his sand to attack again, but he couldn't move. Looking down, he found himself encased in gold dust, constricting him. Sand streamed out of his gourd, trying to reach his father.

The back of his neck stung horribly, and he dropped his control of the sand, causing it to crash to the ground with a thud. He could feel the accursed seal only an inch from his spine, sucking away his chakra.

"Gaara-san, is this the way you treat your hosts?"

Looking back toward the pond, Gaara saw the Daimyō was now standing next to Miyasato. The boy was looking toward him, slightly standing behind his father. His sand was gone, having sunk to the bottom of the pond. The Daimyo had stopped his attack at the last second.

The Daimyo waved his hand, and the gold dust restricting him fell away. Gaara was surprised but showed nothing on his face. The sting on his neck faded. Sand darted back to him, circling around him protectively.

Hardly a second passed, and his sand once again moved on its own. Springing up on his left, it barely stopped the sharp edge of a war fan inches from his neck. Slowly turning his head, he returned the Kunoichi's cold stare.

More sand poured out of his gourd as it reinforced the sand holding back the war fan. He was losing. The edge slowly got closer to his neck as the Kunoichi applied more and more pressure to the back of the fan.

"Kanade, enough!"

His sand fell to the ground as the Kunoichi vanished, reappearing next to the Daimyo. Her expression hadn't changed at all, but her message had been clear. She could and would kill him if he attempted to kill the prince again.

"Please forgive my son, Torio. It's my fault."

Gaara looked at the Daimyō, wondering if he'd be executed for attacking the Prince of Wind. Would this be what finally outweighed his value as one of the Land of Wind's greatest weapons?

Suna had tried to get rid of him before and never succeeded. His father was too weak to kill him.

The Daimyō was about to reply, but was interrupted when Miyasato walked in front of him, "Why would Gaara want to kill me, Rasa-san?"

Gaara could feel everyone's eyes on him, though Miyasato continued to stare blankly out at nothing. He could sense his father moving the seal closer.

"I wanted to."

Gaara looked over at Miyasato, who stared back at him. _He's not blind, _Gaara realized.

"You'll be watched heavily by my guard, Gaara, but I still wish for you to attend the party tonight," Torio warned and gestured for someone in the trees to come out. A servant stepped out of the shadows and walked across the surface of the water.

Helping Miyasato down from the rock, Riko carried him across the pond and set him down on the raised wooden pathway. Gaara watched, disgusted. The boy was weak, pathetic. Why had he wanted their blood? He would never be a threat.

The Kunoichi and Daimyo vanished in a swirl of sand, leaving Gaara and Rasa alone in the garden.

"Do not try that again, Gaara. I will seal you."

Gaara said nothing.

"Thank you, Riko-san. Leave now."

Riko bowed before quickly exiting his master's room. He had just finished helping Miyasato dress in his clothes for the party when he was dismissed. Heading toward the kitchen, he decided to see if there was anything he could help with.

Miyasato watched his servant go before turning his attention to himself.

He was wearing a bright white kimono, with gold edging, specially tailored to fit him. Riko had brushed his long dark-brown hair and tied a bang together with a silk bandage on the left side of his face.

He didn't have many things to remember his mother by. In fact, he didn't remember her at all. However, in one of the paintings of him and his mother, his hair had been tied together with a bandage on the left side of his face. There was no way to tell if that was something his mother or done, or perhaps an artistic liberty the painter had taken, but it made him feel like he was carrying something of her with him.

It was childish.

Smoothing the front of his clothes, he noticed his hands were even paler than they had been a few weeks ago. They almost seemed to disappear against the pristine white cloth of his kimono.

Miyasato didn't know why his skin was so different from everyone else, especially as most people were tanned from the Land of Wind's sun. He'd thought it was because he never went outside, but he'd proved that wasn't true.

If he had some sort of disease, his father would have told him, but nothing had been said.

Miyasato stepped out of his bedroom and closed the door. Quickly checking the hallway and nearby rooms, he found himself alone. As long as no one could see him, it was safe to walk alone.

_Of course, the guards can still see me_, Miyasato mused. He couldn't see the guards in the shadows above him most of the time, though sometimes he caught their movements for a short second.

He was so tired of pretending to be blind, only able to walk normally when he was alone with his father or his father's guard.

It took him a few moments of searching to find his father, during which time he stood still in the hallway before he saw him talking with the Kazekage, walking toward the dining hall.

Gaara was precisely where he expected him to be, inside his cell-like room. Asurami was guarding the door, but no one else was in Gaara's hallway.

Miyasato changed direction and entered the room on his left. Navigating through a maze of rooms and halls, he eventually reached Gaara's hallway a few minutes later. Asurami nodded to him but didn't say anything.

Stopping outside Gaara's room, he watched as Gaara turned and looked at him through the door. After a moment, he walked away, heading toward the dining room.

Gaara opened his door, though the hallway was once again empty. Considering his options, Gaara took off his gourd and set it in the room before following after Miyasato.

Rounding a corner, Miyasato stopped next to Kanade, who placed her hand on his shoulder. She pushed open the doors to the dining hall and pretended to help him over to the head table.

Almost everyone in the entire palace was in the dining hall, all eyes on him, though the room didn't contain even half the people it could hold.

His father smiled at him as he sat down, though Miyasato pretended not to see it. While it looked to everyone like he was staring out at nothing, he was watching Gaara, who'd just reached the dining hall, through the wall behind him.

He didn't react as the massive dining hall doors opened once again, causing everyone else to look over. Miyasato noticed the Suna Shinobi and Rasa had stopped as soon as Gaara entered the room, and were carefully watching the Jinchuriki. Kanade had not yet left his side.

Gaara walked behind him toward Rasa, and Kanade gripped her war fan tightly. _Gaara won't attack me here. There wouldn't be any enjoyment in it. One has to savor their kills, _Miyasato mused.

After Gaara had taken his seat next to Rasa, Torio stood and clapped his hands. The conversation quieted and went silent, all eyes on his father.

"I want to start by thanking all of our guests for coming on such short notice. A journey across the desert isn't kind to anyone."

There was a rush of applause, and the Suna Shinobi smiled, nodding in thanks. They were all gathered together at their own table near the head table.

Torio raised his good hand, and the room quieted again.

"I next want to thank all of the servants, guards, and members of my personal guard for their years of invaluable service." Torio started clapping, and almost immediately, everyone joined in. When it had quieted down a few moments later, he continued. "Some of you might not be aware, but I was attacked a week ago here in this very room."

Miyasato observed the Suna Shinobi's expressions. They were concerned, not shocked. They knew to some extent there had been an attack, but probably not how recently, or the severity of it.

"Without the dedication and sacrifice of those here, that willingly took an oath to serve me, my son, and I wouldn't be here today. Thank you, all of you."

The dining hall once more broke out into loud clapping. The palace servants and guards were grinning and slapping each other on the back. It was the appropriate response, many had come close to dying, and many more had died. Eighteen of the Royal Guard died protecting him long enough for his father to arrive.

Things had to change.

The delicious smell of the food beneath his nose kept distracting him. He'd tried a few bites. It was delicious as always, but he was trying to focus on what was happening around him. Miyasato had tried to eat and observe other things around him before, but it had always ended badly. Usually, it was blamed on him being blind. But he didn't want to embarrass himself tonight.

Gaara hadn't touched his food or even looked at it. Wondering if perhaps Gaara had already eaten, he scanned the Jinchuriki's stomach, finding it entirely empty.

That was when he noticed a layer of colored sand covering Gaara's entire body, entirely invisible to regular sight. The guards had been ordered not to allow Gaara to enter with his gourd.

_They don't know Gaara has sand on him. Does Rasa even know?_ Miyasato wondered. Perhaps Gaara would try to kill him here. It wasn't likely with all of the guards being on high alert, but it was possible.

Deciding to enjoy his food before it got cold, he began eating, savoring every bite. Rushing through a meal, like some people did, was a crime. Every mouthful brought an exquisite battle of tastes in a way only his father and Chef Kakuzo could create. Miyasato was always amazed at the food they produced, despite them arguing over it the entire time.

He'd seen the eight women hidden around the dining hall before even leaving his room, and realized his father wanted to surprise him. So he hadn't commented on it. As the conversation began to pick up again, eight women, each wearing a highly-decorated dress and mask, stepped out from behind the pillars.

Meeting in the center of the room, the dancers bowed to the head table and began to dance the Kabuki.

Some of the servants had left their tables and were now moving around the dining hall, clearing the plates. The palace's two musicians entered the room with their instruments and began to play music for the dancers.

Several conversations were happening around the room, and he quickly stopped trying to read the lips of everyone talking. The dance slowly came to a conclusion, and everyone clapped. The dancers bowed once more and left the room.

Torio stood once more, drawing everyone's attention.

"Eight years ago, my son was born, and the doctor informed my wife and me that Miyasato was blind. We tried everything. Only one doctor was able to help, and they could only improve Miyasato's sight enough to see a little bit of light and shapes."

Many of the servants seemed surprised at this.

Torio shook his head, "Yura-chan and I were dedicated to finding a solution, but sadly she died before we could. A year after her death, I did find a solution. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than nothing. I taught Miyasato to unlock his chakra as soon as possible, and he's been working to learn a special technique ever since."

He stood, seeing his father motion for him to stand.

"Miyasato, would you explain how the technique works?" Torio asked, and he nodded.

"I cannot see color or light with this technique. By pulsing my chakra regularly, I can reassemble the space around me in my mind based on the way the chakra hits my body when it returns to me." He explained. The Suna Shinobi nodded, understanding how such a thing would work. Truthfully, it did work, because it was a real technique.

It was called Ekorokeeshon no Jutsu and was usually used by Shinobi to navigate when visibility was extremely low. He had learned the jutsu so that he could answer questions about it if needed. However, he didn't use it.

Torio nodded, and he sat back down.

"Something is preventing Miyasato from taking this jutsu to the next level, and that is the small amount of light that he can still see."

If everyone wasn't paying attention before, they were now. Some of the Suna Shinobi were whispering to each other, trying to guess what was going on.

His father pulled a box from his pocket and handed it to him. He took it without turning to look at it.

"Happy birthday, Miyasato," Torio said, smiling. Opening the case, he found a light grey band made of some sort of cloth. It was incredibly smooth to the touch. Setting the box down, he held the fabric in front of him.

"Put it on."

He slipped the band over his head and adjusted it across his eyes. It was comfortable and didn't put any pressure on his eyes.

"Thank you, father."

Torio patted him on the shoulder before turning back toward the guests.

"Now, for the main entertainment!" Torio said, clapping his hands together.

There were several yells of surprise from the servants as the tables and benches vanished in large swirls of sand. All of the Suna Shinobi caught themselves with ease.

Before anyone could ask what just happened. Asurami appeared in the center of the now cleared dining hall in a swirl of sand. His snake mask obscured his face, but Miyasato could see his grin. His father had told him beforehand some of what would happen because he needed to act appropriately. However, he'd reached the end of his advance knowledge.

**"Doton: Ishi Ayatsuri! (Earth Release: Stone Manipulation!)" **Asurami shouted.

The floor shook violently, and four posts rose, emerging from the floor around him. Moving like a liquid, the stone split off, connecting the four pillars. Shifting his handseal, Asurami jumped up as the stone began to spread, filling in the box they had created. When he landed, the jutsu had ended, forming a raised platform.

Bowing deeply to Torio, Asurami vanished in another swirl of sand.

"You see before you a sparring platform," Torio said, looking immensely entertained at everyone's confusion. "Oh yes, we're doing exactly what you think we're doing. Everyone is invited to spar against _anyone_ of their choosing. Should the challenged person refuse, they must instead put on a show for everyone to the best of their ability."

Torio sat back down, enjoying the sudden conversation around the room as people discussed who they wanted to fight. "Oh, and I forgot to mention. Anyone does really mean anyone. Who's going first?"

Miyasato didn't expect Rasa to stand, and only noticed he had when the man appeared in the center of the platform.

Rasa bowed to Torio, getting a bow in return.

"I challenge Miyasato Sakamoto."

* * *

Thank you for reading this chapter. New chapters are typically released _every_ week on Friday. 6 to 12 more chapters are **always available or** in development over at our discord: **yewTGGX**  
**Join to read, comment and contribute to rough drafts, drafts, release candidates and public chapters before they're released elsewhere!**

This chapter was posted on: 11/22/19 (Two weeks since last post due to IRL stuff) (Date incorrect as copied from FF.net)

**Special thanks to those that helped create this chapter:**

**Beta Readers:**

Tensleep  
Qibolu

**OC Creators of OC's in this chapter:**

**Asurami (Grimtruth)**

**Kanade (Grimtruth)**

**Ochida (Grimtruth)**


	4. Chapter 4: A Challenge

**CHAPTER 4: A Challenge**

"I challenge Miyasato Sakamoto," Rasa announced calmly.

The entirety of the dining hall looked at Miyasato as one, though he didn't seem to notice. Turning to his father, he waited for him to either deny the request or allow it. Torio looked to be pondering the challenge.

"Against anyone else... I wouldn't allow this. However, I trust you not to hurt my son, so I'll allow it."

Rasa observed Miyasato, but couldn't see any reaction. The boy was talented in showing nothing in his expression, though having half of it covered helped.

"Will you accept the challenge?" Torio asked, looking over at Miyasato.

The servants and palace guard clapped as Miyasato stood. It took him only a few moments to walk to the sparring platform, effortlessly navigating the table, chairs, and people in the room. Hopping up onto the platform, he walked to the spot in front of Rasa and stopped.

Still, nothing showed on his face or in his posture.

The conversation around the room had risen, and Rasa picked up pieces of it. Questions asked out loud about how skilled Miyasato was, whether or not this was safe, a few even wondering if Miyasato might actually give him a challenge. His own men said nothing, only watching intently.

He wondered if Miyasato would accept the challenge, and so had Torio. As they'd walked to the dining room earlier, Torio had explained his idea. He wanted Rasa to spar against Miyasato and get an idea of his skill. Afterward, they would talk and compare notes, see if they had similar thoughts.

Bowing, Rasa slipped into a primary starter position, which earned him a teasing look from Sasori that he ignored. Miyasato bowed in return and entered a stance Rasa had seen hundreds of times before, the basic academy-level Taijutsu stance.

Looking over Miyasato's shoulder, he saw Torio about to start the match when Miyasato's stance changed drastically. Crouching lower to the ground, one hand moved to hold him up from the floor as Miyasato leaned forward. Rasa didn't recognize the position. He wasn't sure it belonged to any existing Taijutsu style.

Torio also seemed confused.

Then just as suddenly as before, Miyasato shook his head and shifted back into the original stance.

_What is he doing?_ Rasa wondered, gesturing for Torio to hurry up and start the spar.

"Begin!" Torio shouted. Rasa could hear the uncertainty in his friend's voice but ignored it. He was also somewhat concerned by Miyasato's odd behavior. Nonetheless, he felt this was the best way to figure it out. Torio hadn't said anything about Miyasato doing any extra training of his own.

Rasa darted forward, though it felt more like he was slowly strolling across the platform. Torio had requested he start off at a low speed, and increase if needed. So he'd chosen to move slightly faster than a Genin was capable of. It was somewhat embarrassing. He had more than enough time to observe everyone in the room in detail and noticed Sasori giving him a look. As if he was embarrassed for him.

Upon reaching Miyasato, he swung for the boy's head with an open palm. Lurching backward, Miyasato moved out of the way and returned to his stance, but his feet were reversed. Rasa deliberately gave him an opening, letting his arm continue to swing around.

He thought Miyasato wasn't going to take it at first, but the boy darted forward at the last second, attempting to jab him in the neck. Easily dodging out of the way, he put some distance between himself and Miyasato.

_Does he know how to use the Gentle Fist? That looked like a Gentle fist move, but it was too violent. It wasn't smooth like the Hyūga is known for, _Rasa wondered as he kept Miyasato in view. Very suddenly, Miyasato dropped back into that weird stance from earlier.

Rasa finally realized where he'd seen it before, in students who didn't know how to use Taijutsu but were desperate to win anyway. It was crude and inefficient, putting someone at risk of being knocked over.

Launching forward, Miyasato tried to _claw_ at his face. Rasa batted Miyasato's wrist away and flipped over him. He was surprised at how quickly Miyasato was running now. When they'd started, it was definitely Genin speed, but he was moving at very low-Chūnin now.

Rasa realized he needed to take this spar more seriously as he had to leap back into the air to avoid getting his legs kicked out. He wasn't sure if Miyasato had enough physical strength to kick his legs out, but there wasn't any reason to find out the hard way.

He leaned to the side to avoid another swipe toward his face from the blind-folded prince. There was something about his fighting style that was unsettling. It was desperate, hungry, reckless, and erratic. If Rasa were trying to kill Miyasato, he would have succeeded in a dozen different ways by this point, even without superior speed.

Twisting on his foot, he spun around to kick Miyasato in the head with the back of his heel.

Miyasato clearly saw the attack coming, and suddenly everything changed again. Miyasato braced himself against the floor, raising both arms up to his side to block the attack. Rasa still sent him skidding across the platform, but it was the correct way to defend against that attack.

_What is going on?_ Rasa wondered. Miyasato's fighting style was unpredictable for sure, but Rasa didn't get the sense that it was intentional. It felt more like Miyasato couldn't make up his mind about what he wanted to do. It had seemed like the prince had a plan at the beginning, but had quickly abandoned it.

Ramping up his speed, he darted around the edge of the platform, appearing behind Miyasato and pinning his arms behind him, ending the spar. _It must be his lack of training in Taijutsu, Torio did mention it was the subject he was least trained in due to lack of a training field. That will have to be dealt with, _Rasa thought as they bowed to Torio.

Walking off the platform behind Miyasato, he asked a question.

"Did you learn anything?"

"You fight like Father," Miyasato replied simply before splitting off, heading toward the opposite side of the head table. Rasa nodded to Torio before taking his own seat.

"I challenge Kanade!" Sasori shouted from the middle.

**Miyasato's Room, Daimyō's Palace.**

Miyasato returned to his room to find a packed bag and a sealing scroll on his bed. Everything looked the same, but peering into his drawers and wardrobe revealed them to be mostly empty.

_Some of the servants must have come and packed for me,_ he thought, though it was up to him to decide what else to bring. Sitting down on the bed, he looked around his room.

Nothing stood out to him. The lavish decorations of his room looked no different from the plain walls of the upper palace floors.

_Does nothing in here really matter to me?_ Miyasato wondered. Lifting his hand to his face, he ran his fingers over the gift his father had given him. The material was cool and soft to the touch. He'd almost forgotten he was wearing it.

Sighing, he slipped his rings off his fingers and put them on the nightstand. He wasn't allowed to bring them as they could be used to identify him. Each was, after all, extremely expensive and had the Daimyo's seal on them.

_At least I will finally be able to use my real name,_ he mused as he checked through the bag, making sure the servants had packed everything he would need. Satisfied, he unrolled the scroll and sealed the bag.

Realizing he needed to change into traveling clothes, he scanned his room.

"Kanade-san, do you want to talk to me?" Miyasato asked the seemingly empty room. Kanade dropped out of the shadows above, landing silently next to the bed.

He waited for her to explain her presence in his room, noticing she was staring at the floor intently. She was chewing her lip, something he'd only seen her do a few times in his life.

"I'm still concerned about this."

He stood and walked over to his wardrobe, having spotted his traveling clothes on a rack inside. Opening it, he pulled them out and laid them on the bed.

"Don't ignore me, Miyasato-sama."

He shrugged, "This is important."

"I know that." Kanade returned sharply. "I just..."

"Kanade-san, I need to get changed." He said, cutting her off. She stopped, nodding before vanishing in a swirl of sand. He could see her outside of his room, but it was good enough. Quickly getting changed, he slipped the scroll into his pocket and grabbed the white cloak next to the door.

Putting it on, he opened the door and stepped outside. Kanade looked like she wanted to say more, but didn't. He honestly didn't care what she had to say at this point. This had to happen, it just had to, regardless of the dangers.

As they walked down the hall, two more of the Daimyō's guards appeared around them. Miyasato's eyes were always moving as he tried to detect anyone nearby. If the Assassins were present, watching, or were to attack now, then everything would've been pointless.

A small group of Shinobi was gathered in a grove of trees in a small clearing. Off to the side, Rasa and Torio were talking. Sasori was conversing with his teams, making sure they had everything ready. Gaara and one of the team members were missing.

"We'll go along the Great Oniringo Mountains until we reach Nekokami City, then take the Shazo Pass into Ten'inokaze Province. It's a longer route, but safer, all things considered." Rasa explained.

Torio nodded, "I trust you took my warning into consideration?"

"Hai," Rasa replied as he rechecked the edges of the clearing. Everyone present was on guard, prepared for an attack at any moment. "I'm not the least bit comfortable with what we're going to do, but it's the best option right now."

"Good," Torio said, looking toward the small footpath to the palace. Kanade stepped out of the shadows first, followed by Miyasato. Two more of his guards were flanking Miyasato on both sides. Torio couldn't see or sense them, but he knew four more of his guards were hidden as they protected his son.

Walking over, he placed his good hand on Miyasato's shoulder. "Got everything?"

"Hai, Father," Miyasato replied. Torio looked toward Rasa, expecting him to comment on his son's bright white cloak, but his friend said nothing.

It was very early in the morning. The sun wouldn't rise for another few hours. All lights in the garden had been extinguished, and the group had only the fading moon to see by.

"Where is Gaara?" Miyasato asked, unable to locate the Jinchuriki on the palace grounds. His question was answered a second later, the ground in the center of the clearing beginning to move. Peering underground, he spotted Gaara and one of the Suna shinobi rising quickly through the sand and imported dirt. A moment later, they were above ground.

"All clear, Captain." The Suna shinobi reported, getting a nod from Sasori, who gestured for his team to move. They all gathered in a circle around Gaara, who hadn't moved since arriving.

"We're ready to go, Torio," Rasa said as he to walked up beside Gaara.

Torio took a deep breath and patted Miyasato on the shoulder. He watched gravely as his son walked into the circle and stopped next to Rasa.

"Thank you for doing this, Rasa," Torio said.

"Of course," Rasa replied seriously. "Let's go, Gaara."

Torio and Kanade backed up as the ground around the shinobi began to shake and then rotate rapidly. Sand leaped up around the edge of the group and formed a dome above them. Nothing happened for a moment. The ground quaked and the dome began rapidly descending. Vanishing beneath the soil a second later, the dirt forming back over it.

Miyasato watched his father's expression as they descended, seeing the deep sadness in his father's eyes. He stumbled, their descent stopping suddenly. Looking around, Miyasato saw Gaara raise his hand toward the wall in front of him. He nearly fell again, though Rasa caught him this time as the dome containing them began tunneling through the sand.

Sand suddenly shot upwards beside Gaara, nearly hitting Sasori. Reaching the ceiling, it splayed out, supporting it. He could see the veins in Gaara's neck tensing as extreme pressure was applied to the roof above. A few seconds later they got out from underneath Kazedama's rock walls.

Speed picked up as they reached less densely-packed sand. More than three dozen feet underground, it was entirely impossible to see them from above ground. The feat of strength from Gaara was impressive, but Miyasato had to deactivate his Byakugan as his eyes began to burn behind his blindfold. There was an incredible amount of potent chakra flowing through the sand.

The sudden darkness was disconcerting, and he lifted the blindfold slightly. There was no visible difference, so he lowered the blindfold. It had been a long time since he'd deactivated his Byakugan. His father had told him his eyes were different from those in the Land of Fire. When activated, it was incredibly hard to tell the difference from it being deactivated. For the Hyuga, it was evident from the veins rising around their eyes.

_Yet another way I'm different from everyone else,_ Miyasato thought.

Rasa's firm grip on his shoulder prevented him from stumbling again as the ground shook. Reactivating his Byakugan, he saw they were far away from Kazedama. He could barely see the outer walls of the capital now. The sound of sand rushing against sand had stopped as well.

Gaara grunted and lifted both hands toward the ceiling. Gravity started to weigh on him as they rapidly rose toward the surface. No more than a few seconds later, they broke through, and the dome fell apart. Gaara collapsed to his knees, breathing deeply.

He thought someone would try to help Gaara, but no one did. The Shinobi ignored him entirely. Only himself and Rasa were watching Gaara as he struggled to his feet. When Gaara had returned to his normal, emotionless state, Rasa began to issue orders.

"Let's move. Sasori, you're first." Rasa ordered. Miyasato was confused, then understood when the redheaded captain kneeled in front of him. Climbing up on the Shinobi's back, he held on tightly as Sasori stood.

Seeing they were ready, Rasa signaled for everyone to move. Instantly, Miyasato lost all ability to see as Sasori leaped forward faster than he'd ever moved in his life. He would have fallen straight away if Sasori hadn't been holding on to him. He couldn't see more than a blur of sand and night sky.

**Suna City, Land of Wind, EN.**

Baki breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down. He so _very_ badly wanted to put his fist through the nearest wall, but the four walls around him didn't belong to him.

_I'll punch my wall when I get home... whenever that is,_ Baki thought dryly.

He was still in Rasa's office and hadn't slept in the past twenty-four hours. As soon as he'd gotten back from the Kumo Embassy, he'd immediately ordered Suna's fastest Shinobi, Hamada, to Kumo with a message for the Raikage explaining everything they knew.

Hamada had pointed out it would take a few days to reach Kumo since he had to go through the Land of Fire to get there. It was probably already too late to try to get a jump on the situation, but at the very least, it showed they were trying... hopefully. There were a lot of variables to try to keep track of, and he could feel his mind beginning to slow.

Ochida had stopped by about an hour before to inform him that all the dead Kumo Shinobi's bodies had been healed and sealed. The place had also been cleaned before the civilians could begin to notice the smell.

Even with his mind spinning, trying to find a way to prevent a war with Kumo, a nagging thought wouldn't go away. A Shinobi, or multiple Shinobi, had gotten through all of their defenses and taken four _highly-skilled_ Kumo Shinobi unaware, and without a fight.

Such a feat required a massive amount of skill, to the point that it was hard to believe it was even possible. There were no signs that any Jutsu had been used during the attack, which meant the Kumo Shinobi had been entirely unaware.

Baki was pulled out of his thoughts as the office doors opened. They might have knocked, but he hadn't heard them.

"Reporting for duty, Baki-sama."

The Kunoichi in front of him was nineteen-years-old and recently promoted to Jounin. He'd never personally met her before, though he'd seen her green hair in Jounin lounges around Suna before. She was the second-fastest in Suna according to the documents, having broken several academy records when she became a Genin. Even Hamada had been impressed.

"Pakura-san, I have a mission for you."

"Yes, Sir."

Picking up a scroll from the desk, Baki tossed it to her. She grabbed it in mid-air.

"Deliver that to the Kazekage in Kazedama as fast as possible."

She bowed before vanishing in a swirl of fire. It looked similar to the Uchiha shunshin style, but it wasn't the same. Baki had totally forgotten she had a Kekkai Genkai as well.

He remembered that there had been a lot of talk about it when she first discovered it after graduating from the Academy. Nothing had ever been proven though. She had been an orphan before joining the Academy, and her parents weren't known.

_Hopefully, she gets that to him soon. Then he can come to help me figure out this damn mess,_ Baki thought as he made his way out of the office. He just had to get some sleep.

* * *

Thank you for reading this chapter. New chapters are typically released _every_ week on Friday. 6 to 12 more chapters are **always available or** in development over at our discord: **yewTGGX**

**Join to read, comment and contribute to rough drafts, drafts, release candidates and public chapters before they're released elsewhere!**

This chapter was posted on: 12/13/19

**Special thanks to those that helped create this chapter:**

**Beta Readers:**

Tensleep  
Qibolu

**OC Creators of OC's in this chapter:**

Kanade (Grimtruth)

Hamada (Blackright709)


	5. Chapter 5: Bloodlust

Miyasato had never done much walking in his life. While he had gone through some Shinobi training, most of it was chakra based, some Ninjutsu, and most being academic. The palace had an extensive library, but it lacked training grounds. The Daimyō who’d built it hadn’t taken Shinobi needs into consideration, it had been something his father had complained about repeatedly.   
  
After an hour of being carried at speed beyond his comprehension, Sasori had set him down. He could no longer see Kazedama, though Rasa had pointed out what direction it was in when he asked. They were now on top of the Great Oniringo Mountains and traveling away from the capital.   
  
The terrain was uneven, often there were sharp drop-offs that he had to be carried down. There were no paths to follow, as civilians never traveled this way.    
  
They’d been walking for close to five hours now, and his legs were hurting badly. Several things prevented him from saying anything about it, though.   
  
His father had told him before the Kazekage had even arrived, that the life of a Shinobi wouldn’t be easy, and he’d accepted that. Miyasato was also concerned that saying anything that made him look weak might cause Gaara to attempt to kill him again. The Jinchuriki hadn’t even looked at him since they left Kazedama.   
  
He’d tried to focus on the surroundings to distract himself from his burning legs, and immediately tripped. He couldn’t trust the ground in front of him and had to continually scan it with his Byakugan. It was infuriating.    
  
Observing Rasa stop ahead of him, he also stopped. Able to finally focus on something else, he immediately noticed the camp hidden in the mountains ahead of them. It was about half a mile away, and with regular sight, only the smoke from the campfires was visible.   
  
Miyasato noticed that no one seemed concerned or surprised about the camp. Looking closer, he realized that was because it was a bandit camp. About thirty or forty men inside, each carrying a weapon of some kind. Some were still eating breakfast, but most were moving about the clearing, packing things up.   
  
“What’s going on?” He asked. The camp was outside the range of his Echolocation Jutsu, so he pretended to be unable to see it.   
  
“There is a camp ahead, bandit camp,” Sasori replied. Everyone besides Gaara was looking toward Rasa for orders, and Miyasato noticed the Kazekage looked unsure about what to do.  _ What’s going on? Surely he isn’t going to attack the camp, that would draw attention to us. Going around would make more sense. _ Miyasato thought.   
  
Rasa came to some sort of decision and sighed, “You are free to go, Gaara.”   
  
Miyasato honed in on Gaara and Rasa, trying to understand what just happened. Rasa looked sad about something but resolute. Seeing the excitement in Gaara’s eyes, he felt himself getting excited for some reason.  _ He’s letting him loose, they’re all going to die! _   
  
Gaara vanished in a swirl of sand. Miyasato immediately tried to locate the Jinchuriki but was distracted as Sasori once more picked him up, this time taking him through a shunshin. Usually, it was a nauseating experience for most people, but he’d gone through enough training to no longer feel sick. Kanade didn’t want him to throw up in the middle of an attack and had Shunshin’ed him back and forth until he got used to it.   
  
It took him a few moments to get his bearings. Rasa and the rest of the Shinobi appeared next to him in similar swirls of sand. All stood silently as they watched the scene playing out below. Miyasato finally spotted Gaara on the far side of the camp. No one inside had noticed him yet.   
  
A crushing weight suddenly abruptly drove Miyasato to his knees as Gaara released more Killing Intent than he’d ever felt before. His Byakugan deactivated as he struggled to breath. His vision went dark. His body refused to stop shaking, the pressure weighing down on him.   
  
His father had trained him to resist Killing Intent, but never nearly this much. The pressure was worse than his father or Kanade had ever focused on him, and not even his first experience with Killing Intent had been this bad.   
  
Anger rose up inside him as he was unable to even stand up.  _ I will not cower in fear of such a pathetic weakling!  _   
  
Fighting against the Killing Intent, he managed to finally get to his feet, though unsteadily. His Byakugan flared to life behind his blindfold, and the world came into view once more. Gaara was now in the center of the camp, dead bodies strewn behind him. Most were crushed into bits, blood soaking into the sand and sandstone.   
  
Gaara didn’t have a drop of blood on him.    
  
Sand roared around him as it stopped all the weapons thrown at Gaara. There weren’t that many, those around him being unable to stand up under the pressure he was releasing. The Jinchuriki radiated death, his eyes wide and bloodshot as blood seeped across the sand around him. Only his wild eyes conveyed Gaara’s excitement. His body was relaxed, his arms folded in front of him.   
  
Miyasato watched in morbid fascination as sand wrapped around a bandit trying to run away, quickly cocooning them.    
  
Gaara turned to look at the immobilized screaming man and raised his hand toward them. They began to beg desperately to be spared, but Gaara ignored them.   
  
** “Sabaku Sōsō!” **   
  
Closing his hand sharply, the sand contracted. Nearly instantly, the man’s body exploded under pressure. Miyasato watched as bits and pieces of the man flew through the air, though most of his blood was absorbed by Gaara’s sand.   
  
Quickly finishing a set of seals, Gaara pointed his open palm toward the ground. Miyasato could see chakra pumping throughout the sand. There were about twenty bandits left, some of which had passed out from fear.   
  
** “Gokusa Maisō!” **   
  
The sand began to vibrate rapidly, causing everyone within the range of the Jutsu to sink through the surface of the sand. Gaara stood unaffected in the center. Miyasato watched as all the bandits were sucked a dozen feet underground, completely unable to move. Within seconds, they were all crushed to paste.   
  
_ I wish Miyasato didn’t have to see this, but it’s needed,  _ Rasa thought to himself, sighing sadly.    
  
** Suna, Land of Wind, EN. **   
  
“You ready?” Ochida asked as he and Baki climbed the stairs to the top floor of the Kazekage Tower.   
  
Baki scoffed but patted himself down anyway. He’d never forgotten to grab all his tools and weapons before. He’d also never been this stressed before either. It had been five days since sending out Hamada and Pakura with messages to Kumo and Kazedama.   
  
He’d heard nothing back from Pakura, but Hamada had returned the third day and informed him that the Kumo Shinobi were on their way. He’d run into them at the border with the Land of Mushrooms.   
  
Ochida had just informed him that the Kumo team had arrived at the gate and were being passed through security. Not that it did much good other than knowing what weapons the Shinobi were carrying, and their identities. No country would try to force a Shinobi to disarm unless they wanted to piss off said Shinobi, or had a  _ really _ good reason.   
  
Reaching the top of the stairs, Ochida held the door open for Baki.    
  
“It’s unlike you to care, Ochida-san.”   
  
The normally stoic and emotionless puppeteer shrugged and lit a cigarette as they walked down the hallway. Smoking was a favorite pleasure amount the puppeteer brigade, and expensive. While a lot of Shinobi in Suna bought the rolled-up herbs and paper, no one purchased as many as the Puppeteers did.   
  
The merchants for the stuff made a killing.   
  
“I’d hate to be you right now,” Ochida commented unhelpfully as they stepped into the Kazekage’s Office. Baki sat down in the large leather chair behind the desk and looked at Ochida expectantly.   
  
“Care to share why?”   
  
Ochida snorted, pointing his thumb back down the hallway, toward the front gate of Suna. “Leader of the Kumo team is a guy named Taguchi. A raging asshole. Met him before on a mission near the Land of Lightning.”    
  
Ochida cut Baki off before he even began to say anything, “They’re being escorted straight here by two Elite teams.”   
  
Baki sighed and moved the chair closer to the desk. He wasn’t at all sure how this meeting was going to go. As a stand-in for the Kazekage, he had a large amount of power, but he wasn’t sure if that included declaring war on another country.   
  
Hamada had been unable to tell him anything about the Kumo Shinobi’s intentions, so he was going into this completely blind.    
  
Leaning back in the chair, he slowed his breathing. He let his concerns and fears fade away as he focused on the wooden doors on the other side of the room. Being unofficially next in line to be Kazekage made him the most qualified to handle this, and he was determined to handle it well.   
  
Baki and Ochida sensed the unmasked signatures of the Kumo Shinobi as they entered the building at the same time. Looking up and seeing Baki was focused, Ochida nodded to him and vanished in a swirl of sand right before the doors opened.   
  
“You’re not the Kazekage.” The one at the front said immediately upon seeing him, Baki nodded.    
  
“The Kazekage is in Kazedama and has been for a while. I was left in charge in his absence. Hamada delivered a scroll to you on my orders.” Baki said. He’d added the last bit to give himself some credibility. Dealing with Kumo Shinobi meant showing authority and strength, always and as frequently as possible.   
  
Briefly, the idea of folding his hands on the table in front of him came to mind, but he dismissed it. He would really be impersonating Rasa at that point, the Elite Shinobi would never let him hear the end of it.   
  
Out of the four Kumo Shinobi, only the one in the front with blonde hair seemed bothered by him.   
  
“My name is Baki, I assume you’re here to investigate your embassy.”   
  
“Taguchi.” The blonde one replied as he sat down in the left chair in front of the desk. “I’ll accept this, though I would prefer talking to the Kazekage.”   
  
Baki nodded. Kumo Shinobi were famously known for not respecting anyone. Except those above them in their chain of leadership, or those they saw as powerful and deserving of respect. Not many people got that honor. Kumo’s culture derived from how the first Raikage had run Kumo, and eventually all of the Land of Lightning. Only the strong were allowed to rule. Every Raikage had fought to earn the position against others who wanted it. There was no right to anything in Kumo.   
  
Personally, he’d always seen it as a somewhat flawed system. Someone with a lot of power could keep the position even if they were a tyrant, but so far, that hadn’t happened yet.   
  
“What can you tell me about our embassy?”   
  
“We don’t usually have much interaction with the Kumo Embassy, so we only noticed something was off three days after when we believe the attack happened.” He explained. Baki noticed that the other three Kumo Shinobi had spread out around the office, but pretended to ignore them.   
  
“Yes, your scroll explained that.” Taguchi said, cutting him off, “What do you know about who killed them?”   
  
Baki hardened his expression, making sure that it was clear he didn’t like being interrupted. Everything was a game of power with Kumo Shinobi, if they decided you were weak, it was over.   
  
“Very little. The murderers were highly-skilled, capable of sneaking through not only our defenses but also taking four of your Shinobi unaware. The evidence suggests that all four died within seconds of each other. Without a fight.”   
  
Baki put emphasis on the last part, knowing it would hurt Taguchi’s pride.    
  
“There was surely a fight! Why weren’t any of your men nearby to assist my comrades?” Taguchi demanded, sitting up sharply.    
  
Baki refused to back down.   
  
“There wasn’t a fight. They all died silently.” He deadpanned. Taguchi was visibly angry and looked like he was about to stand. Rotating his wrist, Baki confirmed that the Kunai hidden in his sleeve was still there.    
  
The Elite Shinobi hiding in the room wouldn’t do anything unless he was attacked, or signaled them to do so. He didn’t want to fight unless absolutely necessary.    
  
He countered Taguchi’s sudden wave of Killing Intent immediately, refusing to let the man have the upper hand. He didn’t move as Taguchi stood up, glaring at him.    
  
“Taguchi!”   
  
Looking to his left, Baki saw that the Shinobi who’d spoken was the one by the door. It was a Kunoichi, but the cloth covering her face had made him think they were a Shinobi. They’d just taken the fabric off and were striding up to the desk.   
  
Baki let go of his Killing Intent as he felt Taguchi’s fade away. Whoever the Kunoichi was, Taguchi clearly respected her as he stepped out of her way and sat back down.    
  
“My apologies.”   
  
He nodded, a bit surprised to see a Kumo Kunoichi. It was a rare occurrence in Kumo as the academy graduating requirements were insane. Even by Shinobi standards. Though if Baki had to think about it, Kumo was probably one of the fairest militaries in regards to gender. If you could prove your strength, no one cared what your gender was there.   
  
There had never been a female Raikage simply because a Kunoichi had never won the fight to become one.   
  
“With your permission, we would like to conduct our own investigation alongside your Shinobi.” The Kunoichi requested, having taken the other chair.   
  
“Of course...”    
  
“Iwata Kayami.” She supplied, and he nodded.    
  
Gesturing to her teammates, Iwata stood. Taguchi still looked irritated but stood up as well. He refrained from commenting on it. He’d been under the impression that Taguchi was the leader of the Kumo team, but it seemed like he might just be the most brazen.   
  
“Before you go,” he said, standing as well. “We had a man who we believed to be a Kumo Shinobi come into Suna, dehydrated and covered in burns. The man immediately ran straight into Gaara, and because we suspected him of being a spy, he was rescued. We interrogated him, as per our agreement, and delivered him to the embassy within three hours.”   
  
Iwata seemed to be thinking.   
  
“I bring this up because we delivered the man to the embassy the day before the embassy was attacked.   
  
“Is the man alive?” Taguchi demanded abruptly, but shut up when Iwata glared at him.   
  
“Not that we are aware of...”   
  
Iwata nodded, more to herself than him. “I understand this violates the agreement our countries have but did the man say anything that might help us?”   
  
Baki shook his head, “No. He was extremely dehydrated and delirious. We weren’t able to get anything out of him.”   
  
“Thank you, Baki-san.”   
  
Gesturing to her team, they all vanished in four simultaneous lightning bursts.   
  
Baki stared at the spot they’d been standing in for a few moments before rubbing his head. He’d gone through the whole conversation again. Hopefully, he had done the right thing. He hoped Rasa was making his way toward Suna by now.

* * *

Thank you for reading this chapter. 6 to 12 more chapters are **always available or** in development over at our discord: **yewTGGX**  
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This chapter was posted on: 12/20/2019  
  
**Special thanks to those that helped create this chapter:**  
  
  
  
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**OC Creators of OC's in this chapter:**  
  
Ochida (Grimtruth)


	6. Chapter 6: A Second Try

Hidden deep within the Oniringo Mountains, a small fire waned, slowly dying. Its creators neglected to give it more fuel to survive. It burned as bright as it could, casting a small circle of light around it.  
  
The single flame danced in the lonely darkness, flickering from side to side as it consumed the last pieces of wood and sticks. Catching a bit of bark, it sparked, causing the circle to grow just enough to reveal a tent, previously hidden in the shadows.  
  
Light slipped through a small crack in the front of the tent, revealing something pale in the darkness before it consumed the bark and died down.  
  
A pair of pale, pupil-less eyes blinked in the shadows before disappearing, once more hidden beneath a blindfold.   
  
Miyasato sat unmoving at the back of his tent as he shifted his attention to the other side of the camp. Rasa and Sasori had just gotten up and walked away, seemingly heading toward a nearby chasm.  
  
He watched them as they strolled away in silence until they were beyond earshot. Rasa handed a scroll to Sasori, who unfurled it as they walked.  
  
Miyasato tried to read the scroll, but it was written in symbols he had never seen before. Focusing on Sasori, he watched a multitude of emotions play across the typically laid-back Shinobi's face.  
  
As Sasori came to the end of the scroll, his expression shifted to one of disbelief. He rolled it up and closed his eyes, seemingly thinking about it.  
  
Miyasato turned his attention to Rasa. The Kazekage hadn't moved since they had arrived at the edge of the deep chasm. He had seen dozens of similar gorges as they traveled across the mountains, and it was apparent why the mountain range was such an excellent defense for the Land of Wind. Filled as it was with sudden drops and unstable surfaces.  
  
"You're actually serious."  
  
It was beyond impossible for Miyasato to hear Sasori, but he'd learned to read lips. It was something Asurami had taught him shortly after he learned to use his Byakugan reliably.   
  
"You've got to be kidding me," Sasori said as he sat down on a small patch of sandstone.  
  
"I don't see a lot of other options, Sasori."  
  
Sasori laughed, "You're right, I hate the fact that you're right, but you are."  
  
Sasori rubbed his face, sighing deeply. "You and I have done a lot of stupid shit in our lives, you specifically. However, I thought as you got older, you were supposed to come up with less stupid-ass ideas."  
  
Miyasato looked at Rasa, but the Kazekage said nothing.   
  
"I mean, you do understand how badly this is going to go if this doesn't work, right? How... how can you possibly put this much hope in him?"  
  
_ Are they talking about me? _ Miyasato wondered.  
  
Sensing something was wrong, Miyasato reduced the range of his sight to less than fifteen feet. Hastily looking around him, he found the cause of the feeling. Ten feet away, on the other side of the tent wall, was Gaara.  
  
The jinchuriki was crouched next to a boulder, hidden in the shadows. The light from the low campfire couldn't reach Gaara on the other side of Miyasato's tent.  
  
He waited, curious to see what Gaara would do. For several minutes, neither of them moved. Miyasato seemingly facing in the other direction, his eyes covered by a blindfold. Gaara staring intently at the tent, as if able to see Miyasato through the thin fabric.  
  
_ He's going to try to kill me again. _ Miyasato realized. Gaara still hadn't moved, but the redhead's eyes were slowly growing more and more bloodshot. Quickly scanning the camp, Miyasato found all of the Elite Shinobi, one of which was sitting less than fifteen feet from the front of his tent.  
  
His heart sunk in his chest as he realized he wasn't faster than Gaara's sand. Miyasato increased his range to locate the Kazekage when suddenly Gaara moved. Opening his palm, he pointed toward the tent. Sand poured over the lip and down Gaara's shoulder, colliding with the sandy ground and merging with it. Mind racing, Miyasato realized he didn't have many options.  
  
_ Now.  _ Jumping to his feet, Miyasato sprinted toward the front of the tent. Sand rose into the air behind him. Throwing himself to the ground outside of his tent, he barely avoided the spear of sand Gaara had flung at him, the sound of shredding fabric his only warning.  
  
Inexperienced and disoriented, he wasn't able to detect the second spear of sand speeding toward him, his Byakugan not yet developed enough.   
  
Everything faded away as his vision shrunk drastically, focusing intently on the spear of hardened sand impaled through his chest. Blood poured down his shirt, soaking the sand beneath him. He could hear movement around him, but he wasn't paying attention.   
  
The pain was excruciating, the urge to scream was overwhelming. Rage filled his mind as he tried to force himself off the spear binding him to the ground. Someone was holding him down, and he tried to claw their leg. His swing missed, and someone grabbed his arms, holding them to the ground.   
  
Miyasato growled, violently trying to get to his feet. Someone was talking, but he couldn't hear them. The desire to kill saturated his mind. He tried again to move his head, but couldn't. Something touched his neck, and everything went dark.  
  
\--  
  
Rasa watched the emotionless face of his youngest son from across the long-dead campfire pit. He'd sealed Gaara as fast as he could, but it hadn't been fast enough to prevent Gaara from unleashing a second attack. The soonest his son would wake up would probably be tomorrow when his body finally recovered from the Bijū's chakra being violently ripped away from him.  
  
Sighing, Rasa pressed his palms against his eyes in a pointless attempt to stop the pain in his head. Breathing deeply, he looked up at the slowly-brightening night sky. The sun would rise in about an hour, and he needed to decide what to do before then.  
  
"Rasa-sama." Tanyu, the medic-nin Sasori had brought, called him from the tent Miyasato had been placed in. Standing up, he gestured to Doppo to watch Gaara. Pushing aside the flap of the canvas, Rasa stepped inside. The first thing he noticed was that Miyasato was breathing, which was a good sign. Tanyu had at first been concerned that Gaara's attack had punctured Miyasato's lung.  
  
"Is he still asleep?" he asked. Miyasato was lying on his back on a sleeping mat. It was the first time Rasa had seen the boy without a shirt, and he was somewhat surprised to see that all of Miyasato's skin was extremely pale. His right side was heavily bandaged where the spear had hit him.   
  
Tanyu nodded, crouching down as he began organizing his various medical tools.  
  
"You'll be happy to hear that the spear missed his lung, but only barely. Because the sand spear dissolved when Gaara was sealed, I didn't have to pull it out, which helped reduce the damage. The flip side of that is, I had to carefully remove all the sand from inside his wound."  
  
Tanyu sealed his things and turned around, looking at Rasa seriously.  
  
"I'm not sure I got all of it."  
  
Rasa grimaced. If there was sand still in Miyasato's body, then Gaara could manipulate that sand. Murder made easy.  
  
"Also, because Miyasato fought me so much before we knocked him out, he ruined all the benefit of having the weapon dissolve. His insides are extremely cut up. I stopped the bleeding and reconnected the muscles and tissue, but he's going to be healing for some time."  
  
Rasa nodded. This changed everything, and he needed to rethink his previous plan. Miyasato would not be able to move quickly, which meant he had to be carried more. Gaara would also have to be carried, and kept separate from Miyasato if he were to unseal him.  
  
"There is something else..."  
  
Rasa looked up, having been blankly staring at Miyasato's sleeping form. That was when he realized that the boy's blindfold was missing.  
  
"He has the Byakugan," Tanyu said carefully, but clearly demanding an explanation.  
  
"He does have the Byakugan," Rasa confirmed, his tone of voice making it _ very  _ clear that Tanyu would not share this information. "That is an S rank secret, as ordered by the Daimyō."  
  
Tanyu nodded sharply and picked up the blindfold from beside Miyasato's head. Carefully lifting the boy's head, Tanyu slipped it back over his eyes. Rasa was confused when Tanyu suddenly froze. Leaning closer, he saw what his subordinate was so shocked over.  
  
Protruding from the side of Miyasato's head, above his left ear were two small bumps. They looked to be the beginning of tiny horns. Tanyu turned Miyasato's head, pushing his dark brown hair aside to reveal two identical bumps on the other side of the sleeping prince's head.  
  
Before Rasa could say anything, Tanyu's hand lit up in light green flames.  
  
"They're connected to his skull... They're naturally growing." Tanyu said in disbelief, his hand moving back to the first pair of horns as he checked them as well. "What is this, kid?"  
  
"You will keep this to yourself," Rasa ordered, and left the tent.   
  
** Near Gimon Pyramid, Ten'inokaze Province, Land of Wind, EN. **  
  
"Sasori, you will go with Gaara, Yoshinaka, Naonobu, Akio, and Hyosuke. Go around Nekokami and enter from the other side, then meet us at the hotel."   
  
Miyasato didn't really hear what Rasa was saying, focused entirely on Gaara. The redhead was unconscious on Sasori's shoulders, the seal attached to the back of his neck burning brightly as it prevented him from using his chakra. He could see the flow of Gaara's chakra. Like all Shinobi, Gaara had a central source in the middle of his chest. The difference was that beneath it, there was another source. Because this darker chakra was now separate from Gaara's regular chakra, Miyasato could tell where it was coming from.   
  
As he'd waited a few hours ago by the campfire for the Shinobi to pack up the camp, he'd carefully observed the seal on Gaara's stomach through his clothes. He wasn't able to understand what it did or what its purpose was. He simply knew it was a seal. He would ask Rasa about it later.   
  
Wincing, Miyasato withstood the urge to hold his side. Tanyu had said that he needed to do as little physical movement as possible until he healed. While Miyasato been through some hard training with his father and Kanade, he'd never been in this much pain before. At random times, the pain would return at full force, but most of the time, he couldn't feel it.  
  
"Miyasato."   
  
Snapping back, he turned toward Rasa, trying to shake off his deeply-ingrained habit of not actually facing people. He was still surprised at how different Rasa looked in his disguise. Like everyone else, Rasa had changed out of his shinobi wear and now wore plain civilian clothes, torn and covered in sand.  
  
He, too, had changed clothes. His once-pristine white cloak had been burned, now damaged and stained beyond repair. Instead, he wore torn and seemingly-dirty garments with a large oversized cloak. His entire life, he'd worn clothes made of the smoothest silk, so the rough fabric made his skin itch.  
  
"While we are in Nekokami, I want you to refer to me as Koukiaru," Rasa said, and Miyasato nodded though it was barely perceptible under the hood.   
  
"Call me Naifu," Doppo said from behind him. Out of all the Elite Shinobi, Doppo was the one Miyasato knew the best as he'd been the one to do the cooking for everyone. His father had always enjoyed talking to him about various dishes, and though it wasn't something Miyasato really enjoyed, he'd willingly listened.  
  
The other three Shinobi present each called out what they would go by while in Nekokami, and Miyasato realized why Rasa was still looking at him.  
  
He took a deep breath, remembering what his father had said to him now more than two weeks ago.  
  
"Call me, Naruto."  
  
Rasa nodded, satisfied.   
  
** Kazedama, Sunagyu Province, Land of Wind, EN. **  
  
Pulling her already prepared papers from her pocket, she handed them to the Guard in front of her. The line hadn't actually been that long, but it had felt like forever. She knew that even if the Kazekage immediately set out for Suna, they wouldn't make it back for three days. That would mean it had been six days since she left on her mission, and a lot could happen in that time.  
  
"Murano Pakura?"   
  
She turned back to the Guard and nodded, having been looking past him toward the bustling city of Kazedama. She'd only been here twice before in her life, both times on missions and the second time only very briefly.   
  
"You're good to go. Yoson will take you to the Daimyō."  
  
As the Guard finished, another Shinobi appeared next to them in a burst of speed. It wasn't a Shunshin, just pure speed. Taking back her papers and sealing them away, she nodded to Yoson, and they vanished in a cloud of sand. The Guard coughed heavily and made his way out of the cloud, waiting for it to clear.  
  
Pakura followed her guide across the rooftops at a blazing speed, reaching the Daimyō's Palace less than two minutes later. Seeing Yoson drop down ahead of her, she slowed down drastically and slipped off the roof, landing smoothly on the brushed sandstone road below.  
  
Yoson explained the situation to the Shinobi guard at the gate, and she was allowed inside. She resisted the urge to speed up the stairs to the entrance of the palace, it was dangerous to use chakra before being announced in new places.  
  
Regardless, she still climbed the broad flight of stairs in a rush and hurried across the courtyard. Since encountering the guards at the gate, she hadn't seen anyone else, but that didn't mean they weren't there. As if to prove her point, a Shinobi appeared from the shadows by the entrance, conveniently blocking her path.  
  
The first thing she noticed was that he seemed to be smoking a cigarette through his mask, or he could breathe fire. The second was that the mask he wore was extremely detailed, unquestionably imitating the face of a snake. The Shinobi's posture was relaxed, casual even.  
  
"Hello, what can I do for you?"   
  
Pulling the scroll out of her pouch as non-threateningly as possible, she handed it to him.  
  
"A message for the Kazekage from Baki, his second-in-command. I am to deliver to him immediately." She explained, getting a nod from the Shinobi as he read the seal. He handed it back, leaving the seal unbroken.  
  
"Follow me."   
  
Entering into what was clearly the throne room of the palace, Pakura followed the snake-like Shinobi through a small maze of halls before stopping outside of a door. The Shinobi knocked, and a moment later, the door was opened by a Kunoichi she recognized.  
  
Kanade of the Searing Wind, the star pupil of the Wind Sage, was well known for her reputation before becoming a part of the Daimyō's Guard. After that, Pakura hadn't heard anything about the Wind Mistress for years.  
  
"I need to talk to Torio, Kanade. Scoot."  
  
Pakura was surprised by the lack of respect in the snake Shinobi's voice and more surprised by Kanade's lack of annoyance. The Kunoichi simply moved out of the way. Pakura made no move to enter herself, not having been invited in.   
  
With the powers that Shinobi possessed, it was elementary to pretend to be someone you weren't. Even as a Shinobi of Suna, the headband around her waist proudly displaying that, she wouldn't be trusted immediately. That simply was how it was, there was no guaranteed way to prove you could be trusted.  
  
The snake Shinobi, whose name she still did not know, appeared in the doorway a moment later.   
  
"Come on in, the Daimyō wants to talk to you."  
  
** Outside Nekokami City, Ten'inokaze Province, Land of Wind, EN. **  
  
Naruto. It was a word he hadn't said in a very long time and only heard rarely. His father was the only one who called him by his real name. It would take some getting used to. Regardless, he was happy to finally use his real name. His mother had given him the name, and it felt like he was now a little closer to her.  
  
However, he didn't really know anything about his mother, his father didn't like to talk about her.   
  
They'd left the mountains far behind, and Nekokami had come into the range of his Byakugan. As the group walked across the desert, weaving in between dunes, he got his first look at a city other than Kazedama.  
  
As the prince of the Land of Wind, he'd learned about the history of the cities and villages in the country. Nekokami wasn't a remarkable city, other than the fact that it was infamous for still existing. After the first Great Ninja War, there had been no intention to rebuild the city.  
  
It was clear the city still existed simply because the people who remained after the war hadn't left. He could see piles of rubble built up in the ruins of houses, to keep it off the streets. He'd say about a third of the city had been fixed up, the majority of it lying in ruins. Regardless of that, it was bustling with activity.   
  
His father had told him the city was once a rapidly growing hub before the war, because of its unique location. Two mountain ranges to the north and east of the city acted as a wall against other countries. Invaders either had to go over the mountains or travel along them until coming to the Shazo Pass. Nekokami had been built on the inner side of the mountain ranges to protect it.   
  
All trade and travelers coming from the north-east, which included the Land of Fire, Land of Lightning, and others, were forced to travel through the pass. This brought business and revenue to the city, which was how it survived after the war.  
  
Like most wars in Shinobi history, going as far back as before Shinobi called themselves that. The first Great Shinobi war was fought over land. Not long after the end of the Warring States Era, when clans banded together to create countries, disputes broke out over who had rights to what land, and it quickly became violent.  
  
In those days, the Land of Lightning owned what was now the Land of Storms, and was trying to expand into the Land of Wind. On the border was the Sakaime Forest, one of the few forests in the region. Suna refused to give up the woods, and war had quickly broken out between numerous nations over several similar disputes.   
  
Kumo's attack had been relentless and pushed Suna Shinobi back to the cover of the two mountain ranges. Then having the advantage, they had held off the invaders for several months at the pass. Kumo was unable to get enough Shinobi over the mountains at one time to make a difference.  
  
In the end, the Shazo Pass did fall, and Suna Shinobi were forced to retreat once again. The final confrontation had taken place in the young Nekokami city, which had suffered much from the war as the pass was blocked off. Though the battle lasted less than six hours, Nekokami had been nearly razed to the ground in the crossfire.  
  
Yet despite all odds, here it stood in front of him. The sun was beginning to disappear behind the mountains, casting a yellow glow across the city, and Naruto felt the first cool breeze of the coming night on his skin.  
  
Less than an hour later, they reached the entrance to the city, and Doppo set him down. Being carried would draw more attention to them.  
  
Naruto noticed that there were no guards, and unlike most cities in the Land of Wind, Nekokami lacked walls. Naruto had to shift his focus to his immediate surroundings as they merged with the sea of people, trying to avoid bumping into anyone. Staying as close to Rasa as he could, he watched the crowd around them, noticing the poor state of their clothing.  
  
He was confused why everyone was keeping to the far right or left of the street, depending on the direction they were going, leaving the middle of the road completely empty. His question was answered a moment later as a man, walking in the middle of the street, entered into his small range.  
  
The man wore luxurious clothes, not a speck of dust on them. Expensive jewelry covered seemingly every feature, and two guards flanked him on both sides. Struggling to keep up with Rasa while paying attention to the middle of the street, Naruto noticed even more richly-dressed people in the center as they walked further into the city.  
  
It was apparent there was some sort of culture here that he didn't understand. The rich had the middle of the street entirely to themselves, their guards beating anyone who tried to walk in the middle. He was drawn away from his observations as the man walking beside him suddenly sprinted into the middle of the street, carrying a knife.  
  
The wealthy man's Guard saw him coming, disarmed him, and bodily threw him back toward Naruto. A couple of quick steps forward saved him from being hit by the man. Realizing he'd lost Rasa, he started to look for him, finding the Kazekage on his left, waiting.  
  
"Keep moving," Rasa ordered quietly and stepped in front of him.  
  
"Why is this city like this?"   
  
"Keep your head down, I'll explain later," Rasa replied over his shoulder, and then abruptly stepped to the right. Naruto didn't see the small child sprinting down the street toward him, weaving in-between people's legs, and the kid slammed into him. He lost his balance, the sudden pain causing him to lose control of his Byakugan.   
  
Stumbling, blinded by the band around his eyes, he finally regained his balance only to be slammed into by yet another small child. The pain made him cry out, causing those around him to look over. The anger returned, making him grit his teeth as his Byakugan flared to life again. Ignoring the pain, his wound now opening back up and beginning to soak his bandages, he rapidly scanned for the vega that had hit him.  
  
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he lashed out toward them, his Byakugan still focused on finding the children.   
  
"Hey. Chill."  
  
Finally, shifting his perception, he saw Doppo next to him, holding his wrist. He allowed his hand slowly fall back to his side as Doppo let go of it, eyeing him carefully. Pulling a scroll out of his pocket, Doppo handed it to Naruto.  
  
"Cover your pockets next time, let's go," Doppo said, grabbing his shoulder and steering him back into the crowd.  
  
_ They stole my scroll... I didn't even realize it! _ Naruto thought. He tried to find the children behind him, enraged that they'd robbed him.  
  
"Pay attention," Doppo chided and pulled Naruto back by his shoulder. He'd almost walked into the path of one of the rich people as they exited the middle of the street. The entire crowd had come to a stop to let this one man and his guards enter into what looked to be an expensive restaurant, two guards standing at the entrance.  
  
"They call themselves Kaunto, and we do not want to piss one of them off," Doppo whispered in his ear.   
  
Once the Kaunto had passed by, the crowd continued forward again, and Naruto slowly moved with them, Doppo now staying right behind him. After a couple minutes of walking, during which he stayed focused on his immediate surroundings, Doppo let go of his shoulder.  
  
"Koukiaru will be inside, go," Doppo said, pointing toward a building on the right. Naruto was confused for a moment before remembering that was Rasa's code name while they were in Nekokami. When he rotated his vision, Doppo was gone.  
  
Exiting out of the crowd, he climbed the three steps to the single unremarkable door of the Shainigu Hotel. He saw Rasa through the door before he even stepped inside, the dark-red haired man seemed very upset about something. He quickly walked up to him, realizing Rasa was  _ sobbing, _ staring at the floor, his hands on his head, pulling at his hair.  
  
His slow footsteps made Rasa look up, and rush over to him.  
  
"Naruto! I'd thought I lost you. Hurry, let's get a room, and then we'll try to get to your aunt's." Rasa said, relief filling his voice. Naruto didn't resist as Rasa pulled him over to the reception counter, behind which sat a bored-looking man, and reserved a room. "Don't do that to me again Naruto, I couldn't bear it if I lost you."  
  
Naruto nodded solemnly, keeping his head down and obscuring his face under the hood. He realized what Rasa was doing and kept quiet. He followed Rasa to the stairs, which look to be mostly safe. Their room was on the second floor, and it only took a few moments to walk up the stairs and down the hall.  
  
As soon as the door of their room closed, Rasa's posture and expression changed entirely. Now once again, he looked like the Kazekage, even with the torn and dirty civilian clothes.  
  
"We will be staying in Nekokami for a few days," Rasa said as he pulled a scroll out of his pocket and unfurled it. Naruto was barely able to see the pulse of chakra flow out of Rasa's palm and into the seal written in the scroll. Smoothly catching the kunai pouch he'd unsealed out of the air, Rasa slid it into his pocket.  
  
"Sasori and the rest will rent rooms here over the next few hours. We will stay here until they do. Afterward, Sasori and I have some things we need to do."  
  
Naruto nodded, though it wasn't really noticeable under his oversized hood. Rasa was standing by one of the beds. Walking over to the other one and sitting down, Naruto winced slightly under his blindfold. Doing the same, Rasa laid down on the bed, hearing it creak beneath him.  
  
A few moments passed in silence before Naruto asked the question that had been on his mind since his birthday party.  
  
"Why does Gaara keep trying to kill me?"  
  
Rasa sighed. "Gaara believes that to exist, one has to have a purpose."  
  
He took a deep breath, opening his eyes and staring at the ceiling. The memories of Gaara explaining this to him flashed across his mind, his son desperately trying to kill him as he yelled at him in hatred. He knew that his son had every right to hate him, and there was nothing he could do about it.  
  
"Gaara believes that to exist without reason, is no different than not existing at all." Rasa wished Naruto hadn't asked this question, but he knew it would come eventually. "After Gaara's uncle, and my brother-in-law, the only other person who cared about Gaara, tried to kill him on my orders, Gaara decided to only live for himself, to only love himself."  
  
Naruto didn't say anything, and he continued on.  
  
"To Gaara, everyone else only exists to satisfy his need to prove he exists. By removing life from the world, he feels that he is proving he exists."  
  
He let the subject drop and was relieved when Naruto didn't continue it. His guilt and shame never faded, never weakened. Every time he saw Gaara, the memories of his failures crashed into him again. Rasa knew he would take what he'd done to the grave, he knew Gaara would never forgive him. He didn't deserve to be forgiven, and he'd accepted that.  
  
"Doppo and Toshi are here," Naruto said, changing the subject.  
  
Rasa shook his head, once more locking up the memories. "Where are Sasori and Gaara?"  
  
Naruto didn't reply for several minutes.  
  
"They're on the other side of the city... four men with knives are trying to corner them in a dead-end alleyway," Naruto said. The Byakugan was indeed a remarkable Kekkai Genkai. It made Rasa glad that they had never had a war with the Land of Fire directly.  
  
"And?"  
  
"Gaara killed them, no one saw them. "  
  
Rasa nodded, "Good."

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7: Nekokami City

Catching himself tapping his fingers on the neck of his saké bottle, Ritsu grabbed it tightly and lifted it to his lips. Checking the others at the table, he was relieved to find no one was paying attention to him. He nervously set the bottle back down, trying to make as little sound as possible.    
  
Sitting closest to him, on his right, was Hanzei, infamously known as the Skull Collector. The barbaric-looking and massive man was the undisputed crime lord in Nekokami City. Except for a few Kaunto, pretty much everyone followed Hanzei's orders. Those that didn't met an untimely end.    
  
Personally, like many others, he'd been working under Hanzei for several years as a simple thug, following out the orders given to him. Five months ago, he'd been promoted.   
  
For some reason that he didn't know, his boss had been "fired."   
  
When he'd been called to Hanzei's office for his promotion, his boss's head had been mounted on the wall with dozens of others. Since then, he hadn't been in Hanzei's office, and he couldn't help but wonder if his head would end up next to his ex-bosses, or if more heads had been added.   
  
As hard as he was trying to hide his nerves, he was sure the other people at the table had caught on. He was nervous because a matter he'd been assigned to deal with... wasn't going as well as Hanzei would want.    
  
"Ritsu, how much longer till we receive the ransom for the bitch?"    
  
Inosuke's smooth, buttery voice nearly made him jump out of his boots, but he managed to play it off with a shrug. Taking what he hoped was an unconcerned-looking swig from his saké, he set it down and wiped his chin. If he was honest, he didn't think Inosuke, Hanzei's second in command, bought it. The man had the position because he deserved it. Able to read people like a book, and play them like a fiddle, he kept Hanzei's men in line in a way that Hanzei himself couldn't.   
  
"Should be tomorrow," Ritsu said, licking his dry lips. "Her father is going to give it up. He tried sending some blokes to rescue her, but they were easily dealt with. The idiot is out of options, and he knows it."   
  
Hanzei's grunt made him instinctually move for the dagger strapped to his right thigh, but he fought the urge and caught himself before his arm moved under the table. Gulping in fear as Hanzei glanced at him, he tried to calmly take another swig of his saké.    
  
Ritsu knew that he couldn't defend himself against Hanzei should the crime lord decide to actually kill him for his failure. That wasn't what scared him. What frightened him was how close he'd come to willingly giving up his own life. If Hanzei didn't intend to kill him right now, reaching for a weapon would certainly change that.   
  
Inosuke continued on, "He'd better pay up soon."   
  
Ritsu leaned back in his chair, realizing he'd been sitting rigidly in his chair for some time. He tried to relax. "He will, don't worry about it."   
  
Forcing himself to keep the stress out of his voice, he was relieved when Hanzei finally turned back to the food in front of him. Weakness wasn't tolerated under Hanzei's command, and neither were idiots.   
  
Ritsu wasn't stupid, and he knew Hanzei wasn't either, despite the man looking like a barbarian cannibal more than a sophisticated crime lord. Hanzei hadn't had any sort of uprising or threat to his control of Nekokami in ten years, which was superb for a crime lord.   
  
Nekokami was  _ not _ an out-of-the-way city in the Land of Wind, but most of the country seemed to have forgotten about it. Ritsu doubted that was actually the case, but for whatever reason, the Shinobi had never arrived to remove them from the city.    
  
Many under Hanzei's command believed it was because of the crime lord's stringent rule to avoid Shinobi at all costs. Additionally, there were several rules about dealing with traders and travelers passing through the Shazo Pass. Thanks to his laws, they were able to keep away any unwanted attention.   
  
Of course, this resulted in a lot of potential spoils being lost, and some had undoubtedly complained about it. Hanzei had simply added their heads to his wall and moved on.   
  
Hearing the doors to the bar being pushed open, Ritsu sat up and looked over. Placing his hand on his dagger's handle, he prepared himself to defend his boss if necessary.   
  
Two men stepped into the bar like they owned the place. They seemed to be civilians, dirty ones at that. He didn't recognize them, but that didn't mean they were newcomers.   
  
"They're not from around here," Inosuke whispered excitedly. He moved his hand back up on the table. They weren't an immediate threat.   
  
"Hey, bartender. Give us the strongest saké you got, pal," one of the men said, sitting down on one of the several barstools hard enough to make it squeak loudly.    
  
They were definitely newcomers.    
  
This was Hanzei's private bar, no one entered here without his permission. They hadn't recognized Hanzei from behind either. The bartender looked over for instructions, and Inosuke gestured for him to serve the intruders.   
  
Ritsu leaned back in his chair again and took another swig of his bottle, carefully eyeing Inosuke, who was focused on the two men at the bar. He knew the Goddess of Luck had smiled on him again. There were a lot of bars in Nekokami, and these two idiots had walked into this one exactly like they owned it.    
  
He could hear the two men talking about something, quite passionately as well, with the bartender. However, he couldn't hear it clearly from this far across the room. Ritsu hoped for their sake that they had some sort of value, or they weren't going to leave this bar alive.   
  
As he'd expected, Inosuke waited until the two men had gotten through about half of their saké before getting up and walking over. Surprisingly, Hanzei had seemingly yet to even notice there were intruders in his bar. The crime lord was focused on the expensive leg of deer meat in front of him.   
  
\--   
  
Being unable to walk down a crowded street and exclusively use his Byakugan without falling or tripping bothered Naruto. He resolved to practice using his Byakugan while moving in his spare time when possible. In the past, he had never run into this problem before. He'd always been able to stop moving and take time to observe his surroundings.   
  
Relying on being able to stop long enough to use his Byakugan wasn't something he would be able to do as a Shinobi.   
  
Until he was able to practice, he was forced to stay focused on his immediate surroundings. Keeping track of the four Elite Shinobi with him, he was walking in between them all down one of Nekokami's many crowded streets.   
  
He'd been invited by Toshi, one of the Shinobi, to come with them as they went to buy supplies for the rest of the journey and more clothes for him. Rasa and Sasori had left the hotel shortly after everyone had arrived, and his bandages had been replaced by Tanyu.   
  
Lifting his hand to his side underneath his cloak, Naruto winced, his wound stinging from his touch. Tanyu had told him he was healing well, and that seemed to be true from what he could see, but it still hurt.   
  
He thought that perhaps he should be angry at Gaara for attempting to kill him for a second time, but he couldn't seem to care. It wasn't that he forgave Gaara...   
  
"Do you see the alleyway on the right, Naruto?"    
  
Looking toward where Toshi was pointing, he nodded. It was more narrow than the alleyways in Kazedama but wide enough for two men to walk down it side by side. It exited onto the next street over.   
  
"Good," Toshi said as he walked to the right side of the street. Naruto followed closely behind. "I want you to walk down it, I'll be behind you."   
  
Walking around the Shinobi, Naruto stepped up off the sand onto the elevated sandstone platforms that the buildings were on. Entering the alleyway, he found it to be mostly empty and clear of rubble. Able to manage walking forward and looking behind with relative ease, Naruto focused his attention on Toshi.   
  
Toshi entered into the alleyway and followed after him slowly. Naruto expanded his range and spotted Doppo a split second before the Shinobi vanished into thin air.   
  
Reaching the end, he stopped at the edge of the shadow cast from the building on his left. Toshi was halfway to him when two men stepped off the street and into the alley behind him. Both wore a strange combination of black and grey clothing. For the most part, their clothes were black, a grey sash running from their left shoulder to their right hip.   
  
Naruto's attention focused on one man as they drew daggers.    
  
"Stop!"   
  
Toshi came to a halt, seemingly genuinely surprised at the command as he turned around. Seeing the daggers the two men were holding, he raised his hands in the air.   
  
"Who-"   
  
Naruto's years of being followed by his guard and looking out for the assassins allowed him to see Doppo's nearly invisible movements in the shadows above. Less than a second later, the Elite Shinobi dropped down and hit both men in the back of the neck.   
  
He watched the flow of Doppo's chakra as it exited his hand and entered the two men's nervous systems, systematically shutting them down as it spread across their bodies. The two would-be attackers collapsed to the ground with a thud.   
  
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Naruto reduced his range and saw Toshi next to him. Toshi looked at him for a moment before gesturing for him to follow. Exiting out onto the street with the Elite Shinobi, he made sure to stay close as they walked for several minutes to a small shop with traveling supplies.   
  
Naruto was torn between looking for more of the men who'd attacked them, and paying attention to where he was walking. He stumbled twice and nearly fell, but he located several more. He remembered having seen a lot of grey sash-wearing men in black throughout Nekokami, but he'd thought they were guards for the Kaunto.   
  
_ People are avoiding them... they're scared of them, _ Naruto realized.    
  
Stepping into the rundown shop after Toshi, he moved to a dark corner and was finally able to entirely focus on the strange men nearby. One was directly across the street from the shop. He couldn't tell if the man saw them enter or not.   
  
He couldn't find Tanyu and Yoshinaka nearby, but Doppo was obvious. The Shinobi had taken a seat in the sand near one of the strange men across the street. He looked like any other civilian needing to sit down for a bit.    
  
_ There is some form of control here in Nekokami,  _ Naruto mused. Now that he was looking, he had spotted three of the men in black and grey nearby. They were clearly a part of some sort of organization, but it wasn't one he knew anything about.    
  
He sensed something happening close to him and reduced his range. Naruto immediately noticed the chakra in the air and followed it to its source. Toshi was weaving a Genjutsu on the shopkeeper, but that was all he was able to discern.   
  
His father had told him that he may be able to peer into a Genjutsu not directed toward him, but there was nothing to confirm that. What information the palace libraries had about his Byakugan was limited and vague, usually little more than guesses.   
  
"Let's go, Naruto," Toshi called as he finished sealing up the supplies in a scroll that he slipped into his pocket. Naruto met him at the door and followed behind him outside.    
  
The sun had entirely disappeared behind the mountains, and there was very little light on the street. Keeping his head down, he avoided looking at the man across the street.    
  
Staying close to Toshi, they joined the small group of people walking past the shop back toward the hotel. The streets had mostly cleared of people, and it made Naruto wonder where they were all going during the day. He'd watched the foot traffic throughout Kazedama, and never seen anything like what he'd seen earlier that day.   
  
"Shit."    
  
Naruto stopped behind Toshi as the Shinobi came to a stop in the street. The civilians around them passed by, ignoring them entirely. Naruto expanded his sight immediately, and the problem came into view.   
  
The other two he'd seen before were clearly blocking them a couple dozen feet down the road. What made it worse was that there were now  _ three more _ behind them that he hadn't seen earlier.    
  
Doppo was coming up behind them all, but that didn't help. Naruto knew what Toshi was thinking. Rasa's instructions had been to remain hidden and not draw attention to themselves. A fight out in the open would bring a lot of attention to them.    
  
What's more, he wasn't able to fight and would be little more than deadweight.   
  
Naruto barely noticed that Toshi had begun to move again. Struggling to follow the Shinobi, Naruto entered into yet another alleyway, this one not as clear as the first one.    
  
_ Why are they after us? _ Naruto wondered, trying to figure out how they had drawn attention to themselves. The Elite Shinobi were almost impossible to discern from the thousands of civilians in the city, and he was only able to tell them apart because he knew their faces.   
  
Naruto knew he wasn't as skilled as the Shinobi in disguising his posture, but that couldn't be the reason.   
  
"Naruto, go with Tanyu. Hurry." Toshi ordered, and Naruto barely had time to brace himself before he was hit with a sudden rush of wind and speed as the world around him blurred.   
  
\--   
  
Downing half of his third bottle in a row, he slammed it back down on the bar harder than needed and swayed unsteadily on his barstool. He'd never used this jutsu before, but it was prevalent among intelligence missions.   
  
Before entering the bar, Rasa and Sasori had activated a jutsu that prevented the usual intoxication that came from drinking from reaching the user's mind. Signals to the body were slow, and sometimes unresponsive, but it allowed the user to think clearly. Rasa couldn't stop himself from burping.   
  
"Just, fuck man! You know? Why can't the damn prick walk on his own, like what the fuck?" Sasori, from the next barstool over, complained loudly before taking another swig. When they had entered the bar, it had been pretty much empty save for one table. Not long afterward, they had been joined at the bar by two men from that table.   
  
Neither of the men had introduced themselves yet, but they pretended to have not noticed or cared.   
  
"Well, you know how the rich are, gotta use the wealth to make life easier for themselves in every way possible." The one on Sasori's right said. He had light blueish-toned hair in a wild mess, looked to be blind in his left eye, and had been the first to join them.   
  
"Well..." Sasori seemed to think about it, "Yeah... I guess if I had money, that's what I'd be doing. However! I'd at least have Shinobi carrying me... rather than poor fucks like myself and Koukiaru here."    
  
Sasori burped before continuing on with his rant, "At least the smug bastard has to wear civilian clothes while we're here, makes me feel a little better, ya know? Heh, Koukairu, remember his hood? Too fucking big for him. It was so hard not to laugh at his pompous ass right in front of his guard."   
  
Rasa laughed along with Sasori and returned to his saké. He sneaked a glance at the man sitting at the bar on his left and noticed the dagger strapped to their right thigh.   
  
"I don't think Shinobi would carry anyone around, my friend." The man sitting next to Sasori said.   
  
"Ha! No, the Shinobi would definitely do it." Sasori declared confidently, genuinely wobbling on his stool as he threw off his balance.   
  
"We must know very different Shinobi. The ones I know wouldn't lower themselves to the level of carrying some guy around, no matter how rich he was."   
  
"See, that's where you're wrong," Sasori hiccuped and took yet another swig of his third bottle of saké before continuing. "This boy ain't just some kid... he's the fucking Irezumi Shichō's son, Shinobi would damn well carry him if he bothered to request it."   
  
Rasa feigned a reaction, leaning over and shaking Sasori's shoulder roughly. "You can't say that... Tessai..."   
  
Sasori pushed his hand away without looking at him. "So... you're wrong... and I'm right. Ha. What's worse is we get a shitty, tiny hotel room, crammed in with his guards, and the prick gets an entire room to himself. He's rich enough to buy the whole freaking hotel."   
  
The sly-looking man nodded thoughtfully, his face seemingly sympathetic.   
  
"I'm guessing you're staying at the Shainingu Hotel? That place is trash."   
  
Sasori nodded as he sipped from his bottle, spilling some down his chin. Rasa had to admit that Sasori's performance was beyond incredible. When they'd arrived at the bar, Sasori had requested that Rasa let him lead, and it had undoubtedly been the right choice.   
  
Making an attempt to stand, his eyes widened as his leg refused to cooperate, and he collapsed on the wooden floor of the bar. He could hear Sasori laughing at him, but Rasa ignored him. Slowly moving his hands up, he pushed himself off the floor. Never once in his life had he gotten this drunk, and he feared to think of the state his mind would be in if he hadn't used the Jutsu.   
  
"Tessai... We need to get back..." He said, his words slurring more than he intended. Slowly getting to his feet, Rasa felt his pocket to make sure what he'd put in it earlier was still there. He hadn't planned to become this intoxicated, but the men in the bar hadn't started asking questions until they had consumed quite a lot.   
  
Sasori stumbled past him toward the doorway, and Rasa followed after him. He expected to hear the bartender call for them to pay for their drinks, but the call never came.    
  
"It was good talking to you, I hope you enjoy your stay in Nekokami!" Someone yelled after them as they slipped out into the chilly night.   
  
As soon as they reached a secluded street, Rasa pulled out the Silver-leaf Fir Cone Mushroom he had stuffed in his pocket and clumsily shoved it in his mouth. It would take a few minutes to take effect, during which he collapsed against the side of a building.   
  
** Shainingu Hotel, Nekokami City, Land of Wind, EN. **   
  
His vision swam as the sudden speed halted abruptly. Stumbling forward, he reached out for whatever was closest to steady himself. Finding what seemed to be a wall in front of him, he waited for his Byakugan to calm, essentially blind.   
  
Tanyu stood silently nearby, waiting for Naruto to recover. The prince was more used to the Shunshin that he had been when they'd begun this journey. However, he hadn't been able to give the boy a warning, and with his injury, it probably made it worse. For whatever reason, Toshi had been picked out by the criminals in Nekokami, and they were forced to get Naruto to safety immediately.   
  
Toshi would lead the men on a pointless chase at a civilian's speed for a while before losing them. They would have to hope the criminals simply thought Toshi got away.   
  
Naruto's Byakugan finally stopped spinning, and he observed his surroundings. Peering through the nearby walls, he realized he was on the first floor of the Shainingu Hotel. Expanding his range further, he found Gaara still in his room on the third floor.   
  
Seeing that Naruto was standing up straight again, Tanyu stepped closer to him. "Naruto, we need you to stay in your room until Rasa returns."   
  
Turning to his right, Tanyu nodded to Doppo as the Shinobi stepped out of a swirl of sand.   
  
"We've got a serious problem," Doppo said grimly.   
  
Tanyu unfolded his arms, his hand hovering near the weapon pouch strapped to his side. "What?"   
  
"Group of ten Gūru are approaching the hotel from the east," Doppo said.   
  
Naruto shifted his focus to the east, rapidly scanning between the buildings, some in a severe state of disrepair. It didn't take long to find what he was looking for. There were indeed ten men walking toward them, all wearing black and grey clothing.  _ So they're called Gūru, _ Naruto mused.   
  
"Are Rasa-sama and Sasori-sama back?" Tanyu inquired.   
  
Doppo shook his head, "They didn't say where they were going or when they would be back. We don't have a way to notify them. We have to deal with this ourselves, carefully. If our cover is blown, then trying to keep this low will be pointless, but we have to hope."   
  
Tanyu shook his shoulders, loosening them up. "We don't have any choice right now."   
  
Doppo shrugged and turned toward the stairwell at the end of the hall. "Regardless, we're going to have to leave Nekokami a lot sooner than we'd hoped."   
  
"There are more coming..." Naruto caught himself too late. Doppo stopped and looked at him, his eyes narrowing. Tanyu looked between Doppo and Naruto, staying quiet when Doppo looked at Naruto questioningly.    
  
Naruto watched through the back of his head as Doppo shifted through several hand signals that he couldn't understand to Tanyu. Tanyu signed something in response, and Doppo nodded before vanishing in a swirl of sand.   
  
"Follow me, Naruto. This is going to get out of hand really quickly."   
  
They climbed the stairs to the third floor and stopped outside of Gaara's room. Unlocking the rotting and cracked door, Tanyu ushered him inside and followed him in. Gaara didn't react in the slightest as they entered, ignoring them entirely as he continued to blankly stare at a patch of mold on the opposite wall.   
  
"Both of you stay here," Tanyu ordered, looking between Naruto and Gaara. Naruto was the only one to acknowledge the command. Tanyu hesitated for a moment before exiting and closing the door behind him.   
  
Naruto watched him through the wall until Tanyu reached the stairwell, then lost track of the Shinobi. Reducing his Byakugan's range to the extent of the room, he stared at Gaara through his blindfold. He'd expected to find the Jinchuriki staring back at him, but he wasn't.   
  
Reaching up, Naruto slipped off his hood and walked over to the other bed in the room. He carefully sat down on it, the bed creaking beneath him. He was careful to avoid bumping his side with his arm as he crossed his legs on the bed.   
  
Slipping off his blindfold, he deactivated his Byakugan, and color returned to his sight. Gaara continued to ignore him, his pale green eyes staring at something behind him on his right. Naruto wasn't sure why Tanyu had left him alone with Gaara, but for whatever reason, Gaara didn't seem interested in killing him.   
  
"Are you going to kill me, Gaara?" He asked.   
  
Gaara ignored him.   
  
Hearing something crash to the ground beneath him, Naruto activated his Byakugan and peered through the floor. A fight had just broken out in the hotel lobby. The Shinobi weren't using any jutsu or even chakra, only fighting with their hands against the growing number of Gūru.    
  
_ Why are so many coming? Did they go after Rasa and Sasori as well? _ Naruto wondered. A moment later, he realized both Sasori and Rasa were in the brawl on the first floor. Seeing chakra flare on the other side of the lobby, he shifted his attention to Doppo. Hitting another attacker in the back of the neck, Doppo flowed chakra into their nervous system and shut it down.    
  
A scream split the air. Naruto focused on Rasa, who'd just used an attacker's dagger to stab him in the shoulder.   
  
_ Why aren't they just ending the fight? Our cover has been blown, we need to leave Nekokami immediately. If we're being followed by the Assassins, they're going to notice this. _ Naruto thought. Three men managed to get past Rasa and rushed toward the stairs.  _ Where are they going? _   
  
He tried to make sense of what was happening, but his mind came up blank. His best guess was that Rasa and Sasori had been spotted as well, and the extra attention came from something they had done. However, that didn't explain the number of Gūru that had come to rob what was presumably just a small group of civilian travelers.  _ If they're an organized group, perhaps the Assassins hired them? Why wouldn't the Assassins themselves attack instead? _   
  
Naruto focused back on the hotel room as the pungent smell of blood reached his nose through the cracked and warped floorboards.    
  
"They're losing." He said though it was unlikely that Gaara cared. What's more, it wasn't really true. If the Shinobi decided to stop fighting like civilians, they would win instantly. As it was now, they were slowly being pushed back towards the stairwell. Remembering the three that had made it by, he started searching for them.   
  
He found them on the floor below, kicking doors and looking in each room before moving to the next.  _ They're looking for me, _ Naruto realized.  _ That proves it, they have to be connected to the Assassins. _   
  
Looking up at Gaara, he wondered if Gaara would care if the Assassins broke into their room and attacked him.    
  
"I was sure the smell of blood would have riled you up," he said, but Gaara continued to ignore him.   
  
The three men were now on their floor and working their way toward their room. Standing up quickly, he winced as his side stung painfully. He backed away from the door, watching now as the men stopped outside of it. He raised his arms in front of his face as one lifted their leg. The door burst apart, and dust rose in the air as the bottom half crashed to the ground.   
  
Glancing at Gaara, he saw the Jinchuriki was at least somewhat paying attention, now looking toward the entrance of the room. As the men entered, he tried to figure out what he should do. He wasn't strong enough to fight them, his wound sapping most of his strength.    
  
Naruto backed up as far as he could as all three of them focused on him, ignoring Gaara entirely.    
  
"There he is," one said, coughing heavily from the dust. Naruto noticed blood pouring down his left arm from a knife wound. His back hit the wall, nowhere left to go. Two of them grabbed his arms. He tried to fight back but couldn't break free. Even if he was at full strength, he wasn't sure he would be able to overpower them, they were strong.   
  
One tied his hands together with a rope they pulled out of their pocket. The other jammed a sack over his head. He tried to dig his feet in, but they dragged him toward the doorway regardless. Pulling as hard as he could, he felt his Byakugan flaring.   
  
"Ritsu, what about the other kid?" The man in front of him asked, their grip on Naruto's arm completely unmoving as he tried desperately to break their hold.   
  
Ritsu looked up from tending to his wound, having ripped his shirt to create a makeshift bandage. Glancing over at Gaara, he quickly returned to working on his shoulder. He didn't recognize the kid. Probably just some friend of the Shichō's son, not significant. They didn't have the time to wait around anyway.   
  
"Useless, let's move."   
  
He backed up a bit as Koin leaned past him, sticking his head into the hallway with the kid in tow. Ritsu noticed the kid's pale skin for the first time as their sleeve rode up on their arm.  _ Brat probably never goes outside. Rich bastard. _   
  
Standing just behind the kid and keeping his hands on the boy's shoulders was Izumo, who looked impatient.    
  
"Is the coast clear — Ack!"   
  
Ritsu froze, his eyes wide in shock. His vision narrowed to the spike of sand protruding through Izumo's head, blood dripping from its tip. Koin turned around, and before he even realized what was going on, the spike darted forward and impaled him through the forehead as well. The blood hitting his face snapped Ritsu out of his shock.   
  
Immediately he tried to back up, not noticing his clothes catching on a sharp rusty nail sticking out of the doorframe. His skin tore horribly, but he didn't notice. All Ritsu could see was the redheaded boy standing in the room, sand whirling around the room as the demon child pointed his open palm at Ritsu.   
  
"No! Stop!" He screamed, "What are you-!?"   
  
His foot caught on something, and he fell backward. He watched in horror as the sand rushed forward, disappearing from view underneath him.   
  
Naruto pulled the sack off his head, having been able to slip his hands out of the hastily-tied rope. Getting to his feet, he calmly brushed what sand he could off his clothes; most of it stuck to the blood on him. He looked at the three dead men on the floor around him for a moment before turning toward Gaara.   
  
When nothing happened, he stepped over one of the bodies and sat back down on his bed. Neither of them said anything for several moments. Naruto could still hear the sounds of a fight beneath them, but they were quieter than before. He didn't look away, focused entirely on Gaara.   
  
"Thank you, Gaara."   
  
The redhead ignored him.   
  


* * *

  
Thank you for reading this chapter. 6 to 12 more chapters are **always available or** in development over at our discord. Code is: **yewTGGX**  
New chapters are typically released _every_ week on Friday.   
**Join to read, comment and contribute to rough drafts, drafts, release candidates and public chapters before they're released elsewhere!**  
  
This chapter was posted on: 1/24/20  
  
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Hanzei the Skull Hunter (Created by Grimtruth on discord.)


	8. The Logbook

The concept of an embassy was still relatively new and hadn't been fully developed either. The Land of Fire had been the first to offer another country, the Land of Fire, a spot to build an embassy.

Its intended purpose was to be an established form of connection between countries. The Land of Fire and Land of Earth had just come out of numerous conflicts caused by a severe lack of communication at the time. As expected, the Land of Earth jumped on the opportunity to freely set up a base in another country's land, and the Elemental Nation's first embassy had been created.

Iwata had never personally seen that embassy, but she'd heard stories and rumors as to the strength and size of it. She had heard it had taken a year to build, and could safely and comfortably house well over a hundred shinobi. It was built near the center of the Land of Fire's capital, Leaf City.

Shortly after the first embassy was finished, more lands began to offer a property for others to build their own embassy. Kumo, however, forced their way into countries and built an embassy whether the country wanted one or not. Most were created with the idea of a small stronghold in mind, more than a peaceful location for diplomatic relations.

She was skeptical as to how long this embassy idea would survive, as the concept had yet to go through a war. In her experience, most brilliant ideas fell by the wayside under the brutal pressure of war. Iwata hoped that another Great Ninja War wouldn't happen in her lifetime. Perhaps the embassies could help hold back the relentless need for power and violence the Shinobi thrived on.

The reason she feared such a war was because the next one would be different. The Bijū had all been captured and subjugated, their power now under Shinobi control. It was highly likely that the Jinchuriki would be sent into the battlefield.

Shaking her head, she raised her hand to shade her eyes, trying to spot the Kumo Embassy ahead of them. Her teammates surrounded her as they followed after a Puppeteer Shinobi. He'd introduced himself as Ochida and had offered to guide them there.

She'd never seen this embassy, not having been stationed here or gone on missions in Suna since it was built. She knew the embassy in this city wasn't one of the most impressive ones Kumo had ever made, but it was nothing to scoff at either. Despite that, it had been broken into, and everyone inside had been taken completely unaware.

Ochida gestured toward the ground below, and she dropped off the roof after him. They all landed in a small courtyard surrounded by iron fencing. Behind her was the street, only a few civilians walking by glanced at them before hurrying on. In front was a nondescript building that barely stood out from the ones around it.

"This is the Kumo Embassy," Ochida said as he walked up the small sandstone pathway to the door. Standing next to the door was a Suna Shinobi hidden in a low-level Genjustu, who dropped it as Ochida approached. She'd noticed him as soon as she landed in the courtyard.

Ochida opened the door and gestured for them to follow him.

Stepping inside, Iwata checked the back of the door and noticed the protection seal had been destroyed. She wasn't an expert in seals, not many in Kumo were, but she had a rudimentary knowledge all Shinobi were required to have.

Ochida noticed her looking at it as her teammates funneled into the building by her.

"We had to destroy that to get in," he commented, and she nodded.

"Do you know how the attackers got in?" Taguchi asked, and Ochida shook his head.

"We still don't know, despite doing a rough search. We were hesitant to explore the lower levels of the embassy, as we didn't want to break the treaty. However, we did have to go down there to retrieve two of the bodies." Ochida explained.

"Where are their bodies?" Taguchi asked.

"Over there," Ochida said, pointing toward a door on the right toward the end of the hallway. "We cleaned up the blood, sealed their bodies to prevent decomposition, and moved them to that room."

Iwata stepped around Ochida and followed Taguchi to the room, quickly walking in after him. Her two other teammates entered behind her. Ochida stopped in the doorway, leaning on the frame.

"If you want, one of my men can show you a Genjutsu of the embassy when we found it."

"That won't be necessary," Taguchi replied, focusing on the four bodies on the floor in front of him. Each was covered in a white sheet. Iwata kneeled down by the first and pulled back the rough fabric, taking in the lifeless face. She didn't recognize them.

Looking down at his neck, she found the artificially-healed scar across the throat. Moving to the next one, she found the same wound.

"I need to get back to my post. If you require anything, let Hori know. He'll be outside." Ochida said. After waiting for a moment and getting no reply, he activated a shunshin and vanished in a swirl of sand. The room was quiet for several moments.

"It seems like Baki was right... there wasn't a fight." Taguchi said solemnly, looking between each fallen comrade's wounds.

Fujino, who was standing off to the side, nodded, "Whoever did this was extremely skilled. I'm amazed they managed to take Nikko unaware."

Iwata agreed, looking back down at the body she was crouched by. She couldn't help but think that Nikko would have been pissed to see how he died if he was still alive. Nikko was an ex-RAIKOU and had accepted a position at this embassy as his last assignment before retiring. Despite being an older Shinobi, he'd been powerful. Shaking her head, she got up and walked to the final body, already knowing who it would be.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled back the sheet. The familiar handsome face of a young teen came into view, skin pale and lifeless like the rest. His name was Motoki, the younger brother of her friend Akari. She sighed sadly and gently placed the sheet back over Motoki's face. Her friend Akari had begged her to join this mission to check on her brother. Due to the assignment's potentially high danger level, Akari wasn't qualified for it yet.

"That's him, isn't it?" Fujino asked, walking over to her.

She nodded and stood up. Hearing the familiar sound of a seal releasing its contents, she looked over at Taisho, who was now holding a small black book. Taisho set Nikko's wrist back on the floor and tossed the book to Taguchi. Iwata waited with anticipation for Taguchi to read through Nikko's logbook.

The uninteresting-looking black book was like thousands of others, unremarkable from the exterior. However, it was precious. Every single Kumo Captain was required to keep one with them at all times and log everything in it, regardless of whether they thought something was worth being written down. This rule had solved dozens of problems for Kumo and was one of its best-kept secrets.

The strategy was supported by the Land of Lightning's custom of burying their dead shinobi in a massive catacomb in the mountains. Most countries and shinobi respected each other's traditions in regards to their dead, and usually allowed Kumo Shinobi to collect their fallen comrades, and thus, their logbooks.

"Baki said something about a prisoner being delivered here before the attack, right?" Fujino asked, gesturing toward the book in Taguchi's hands.

"He did..." Taguchi said slowly, "and the prisoner was here..."

Iwata narrowed her eyes as Taguchi looked up at her for a moment before returning to the book.

"May 12th. A man was delivered to the embassy by Suna Shinobi. They believed the man to be a Kumo Shinobi. It was unspoken but clear that they think him to be one of our spies. He was in horrible condition, and I demanded an answer as to why, citing our treaty with the Land of Wind. They denied any involvement, claiming the man had entered Suna that way before running headfirst into their Jinchuriki."

"That lines up with what Baki said," Taisho commented.

"We brought the man inside and found a Kumo Headband inside his shirt. It could have been planted. He appeared extremely delirious, dehydrated, and at the brink of insanity. Most of his skin was covered in first, second, or even third-degree burns in numerous places. He has yet to say anything but incoherent mumbling. None of us recognize him."

Taguchi shook his head in apparent disbelief and continued reading, "The man is indeed a Kumo Shinobi; his name is Katai Kayami.

Iwata stared at Taguchi in disbelief, not really seeing him.

"He was conscious long enough to prove who he was, and told us he'd been stationed in Kazedama as a spy before again passing out." Taguchi said and turned the page, "After a few hours of care, Katai woke up and immediately began pleading with us that we run for our lives. He says someone is chasing him. We are locking down the Embassy."

Fujino whistled, shaking his head. "They knew someone was coming, and whoever it was still got all of them without a fight... Damn."

Taguchi had reached the end of where he'd already read, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Katai has just told me that he believes the Stone of Legend must still exist."

"What?" Taisho exclaimed, and Taguchi nodded, equally in disbelief as he hurried to read the rest of the log.

"While in Kazedama, he noticed that there was something suspicious going on with the Daimyo. Carefully spying on the Palace from afar, he discovered that around every two to three weeks, a group of Shinobi dressed in black would break in and presumably attack the Daimyo. They never came back out. Retracing their tracks, he was able to find and spy on their hideout after much careful searching. He couldn't figure out who they were, but from overhearing a small amount of conversation, he learned that the Daimyo has a new Kekkai Genkai. He can only conclude that the Stone must still exist."

Iwata finally snapped out of her shock, "What happened to my brother, damn it!"

"According to Katai, three days ago, there was another attack on the Daimyo, but two of the Shinobi stayed back. He moved close enough to overhear their conversation, and heard them talking about the Daimyo's Kekkai Genkai. He says they believe it to be some sort of pulsating chakra wave. He was forced to run when the Shinobi spotted him. They followed him out of Kazedama and across the desert. He's been running from them for three days without stopping. He remembers reaching Suna, but nothing after that."

Taguchi closed the book with a snap, "The entries end there. Most likely, they were attacked after Nikko wrote that."

"Where is Katai's body then?" Iwata demanded.

Taisho bit his lip as he looked around the room, realizing that she was right. "Most likely... they took his body with them. They chased him because he learned too much about their plans, which is why they killed everyone here. They realized he was a spy stationed in Kazedama by us, it would give too much away. They didn't know about the log."

Fujino nodded solemnly in agreement, "By now... Katai is probably a pile of ashes somewhere..."

Iwata took a deep breath, focusing on the cold, lifeless face of her friend's brother.

"We have permission to stay here as long as needed..." Iwata said, and Taguchi nodded.

"Get settled in then."

**Suna, Kazekage Province, Land of Wind, EN.**

In the world of the Shinobi, the only thing that mattered was power. One's ability to kill those in their way. People both Shinobi and Civilian, regularly died, even in times of peace. All that peace meant was that no significant countries were actively and openly at war with each other. Small states, territories, villages, and various groups were always fighting regardless.

Treaties had been used as far back as the records went, and their success ultimately depended on the leaders of the groups that signed it. The paper itself held no real meaning. It could and would be broken with the throw of a kunai.

While some countries did strive to live in peace and to respect their neighbors, others desired more and more control. However, the end of the Warring States Era had marked a crucial change in the mindset of the Shinobi. Before, only oneself and one's family or clan mattered. Now, one's country, leaders, citizens, and comrades had been added to that list, though not much else had changed.

If anything, the battles and wars had only gotten worse, progressively getting bloodier and more catastrophic with every Great Ninja War.

Rasa respected Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, the ones who had brought about the end of the Warring States Era. He didn't like them, but he admired their dedication to those who they saw as their people. Over forty years ago, they had captured the Nine-tailed Bijū and used it to threaten hundreds of clan leaders if they did not attend a special meeting.

At that meeting, they had presented their plan to change the ideology of the Shinobi. They'd brought attention to those who could not use their chakra, those that had simply been called villagers, or slaves in many cases. At the time, those without chakra were a dying race of humans. Unable to survive against the Shinobi, they were ruthlessly exploited and killed.

Rasa's father had told him that it was believed that many of those without chakra made boats and sailed out into the ocean, never to be seen again.

Feeling the hot sun on his back fade away, Rasa looked up. In front of him was the massive hundred-and-fifty-foot wall that guarded Suna. It had been carved from what was once a mountain by the first Kazekage with his Magnet Release. A huge hole had been created in the center, and Suna built inside.

Walking next to him was Naruto, who seemed to be nearing a full recovery. He'd been carried in shifts by each of his Shinobi as they ran across the desert. After the incident in Nekokami, Rasa decided it was best to head straight for Suna and as quickly as possible. He had been gone much longer than he originally planned. He had to hope his efforts had some effect.

Behind him on his left was Gaara, his constant flow of killing intent making it easy to locate him without looking. Rasa slowly took a deep breath, guilt once more trying to overwhelm him. Every time he saw his son's face, he saw his wife and the look of disappointment on her face. He'd betrayed her, and what was worse, he had not accepted the consequence of his foolish actions. He'd tried to have Gaara killed, so he could try again.

Shaking his head, Rasa focused back on his surroundings. They had just finished walking around the edge of Suna's wall and were approaching the entrance. Suna usually had a steady flow of travelers from Irezumi City entering and leaving, and today was no different. Everyone had changed back into their regular garb sometime before, though Naruto now wore clothes Toshi had bought for him in Nekokami.

As they drew closer to the road in front of the enormous gates, people began to notice them and back away. Because Suna was mainly a military location more than a city, everyone entering or leaving was documented and checked to the best of their ability. Records on shinobi were usually hard to get, vague, or downright wrong.

Off to the left side of the ravine-like passageway was several lanes, where the civilians waited in line.

On the right was a building carved out of the side of the wall, just beyond the open gates. This was where Shinobi checked in when they were going on a mission or coming back. Walking through the crowd as it parted around them like sand hitting a rock, they stopped at the stone counter.

"Kazekage-sama, Sasori-sama." The Shinobi behind the counter said, bowing slightly.

"Tetsu-san," Rasa replied, bowing his head slightly.

"Rasa-sama, sir, Baki-san has requested your presence in the Kazekage Tower immediately upon your arrival. A matter of emergency, sir."

"I see," Rasa replied, "We'll skip the sign-in process for now."

"Understood," Tetsu replied, glancing at Naruto briefly before putting away the papers he'd pulled out.

Rasa turned toward Gaara, who was staring down the lantern-lit path to Suna blankly.

"You're free to go, Gaara." He said and wasn't surprised when his son didn't reply. Rasa watched Gaara walk away until he was out of earshot then turned to Sasori, who was standing by the eight Elite Shinobi. "Sasori, make sure Gaara's wardens know he's back. Tanyu, I want you to meet me at the mansion first thing tomorrow morning. The rest of you are off mission."

All nine shinobi instantly vanished in swirls of sand.

Placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder, Rasa followed his men's example, and they vanished in a swirl of sand.

"Rasa-sama, welcome back."

Naruto tried to focus on whoever was speaking, but his Byakugan was spinning. He heard Rasa walking away from him.

"Baki, Tetsu-san told me you wished to speak to me immediately?"

"Yes."

As his vision settled, Naruto realized he was inside a rather plain-looking office. Two large wooden double doors were behind him, closed. In front of him was a large oak desk, behind which was who he assumed to be Baki. Rasa was standing in front of it. Expanding his range, Naruto realized he was inside a large tower. Beneath them on every floor, there were Shinobi everywhere, ranging from children not much older than him to a very old-looking lady.

"Can it wait?" Rasa said.

"Um, yes."

Naruto focused back on the office and saw Rasa take the seat behind the desk from Baki.

"Good, I need to deal with something else for right now. I will talk with you soon." Rasa said, folding his hands together on the polished desk. Baki nodded and walked toward the exit, Naruto moved to the side and pretended to not see the look of confusion and curiosity on Baki's face as he noticed his blindfold.

Baki exited and closed the doors behind him. Naruto watched through the wall as he walked to the end of the hallway and began to descend the stairs.

"Naruto, please sit down."

He did so, taking the chair on the left. Rasa took a scroll out of one of his many drawers and picked up a quill. Dipping it in the inkwell on the corner of his desk, he began to write, talking as he did so.

"Your father and I agreed that you would spend three years here in Suna before returning to visit him. After which, you would return to finish your training to become a Genin. At that time, it will be up to you and your father whether you continue your training."

Naruto nodded, that was what his father had told him. Rasa continued to write on the scroll for a few moments.

"Your name will be Edano Naruto while you're here," Rasa said, glancing up Naruto to see if he agreed. "You have some light experience in the Shinobi arts, and show promise in Ninjutsu, correct?"

He nodded again, "That was Kanade-san's analysis."

"Good. I've written that you are the son of a rich lord in Kazedama, who will remain nameless for now. You are here because your father requested a favor from the Daimyo to come back with me to Suna to train to become a Shinobi." Rasa said, refreshing his quill. "You won't be questioned about this. If one of your teachers has a question, they will come to me, and I will deal with it. You are not to answer any questions in this regard, understood?"

"Hai."

"While you're here, you will be staying in my home. I believe a new Shinobi Academy class starts in a week, I will be assigning you to it." Rasa said, "I've noted that you are entirely blind, but have been taught to see with the Echolocation Jutsu. Maintaining that illusion is your responsibility."

"Will Gaara tell anyone about my Byakugan?" Naruto asked.

Rasa shook his head, reading over the scroll to check it was correct. "No, Gaara doesn't talk to anyone. Besides that, while Gaara has undoubtedly figured out some of the aspects of your Kekkai Genkai, he doesn't know what it is or what it is called."

Rolling up the scroll, Rasa clipped it closed and put it in his kunai pouch. Folding his hands on his desk, he focused on where Naruto's eyes were, knowing the prince could see him.

"As I'm sure you know, Suna is a military base primarily, and city second. We have the largest number of Land of Wind shinobi in this city. I am aware that you can read lips, and expect you not to spy on things that are none of your business." Rasa said.

Naruto bowed his head in agreement and respect to Rasa's wishes.

"Good."

* * *

Thank you for reading this chapter. 6 to 12 more chapters are **always available or** in development over at our discord. Code is: **yewTGGX**  
New chapters are typically released _every_ week on Friday.  
**Join to read, comment and contribute to rough drafts, drafts, release candidates and public chapters before they're released elsewhere!**

_Lots of chapters about to be posted, I honestly forgot to post them here, sorry!_

**Special thanks to those that helped create this chapter:**

Tensleep  
Qibolu

**Beta Readers:**

Tensleep  
Qibolu

**OC Creators of OC's in this chapter:**

Kanade (Grimtruth)  
Ochida (Grimtruth)


	9. Still Breathing

Rasa's attention never left the scroll in his hands even as he reached across the cluttered table to pick up a cup of coffee. "What a mess," he muttered before taking a sip. Baki had already gone through all the reports around the time it was believed the attack on the Kumo Embassy had taken place and found nothing.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Baki, but he liked having as close to first-hand knowledge as possible. However, Rasa had to admit that he didn't see anything either. Whoever had snuck into Suna and broken into a highly secure Kumo Embassy was, undoubtedly, extremely skilled. It was probable they hadn't left any trail at all.

He'd stayed up late last night thinking about it, and one thing had been bothering him ever since he'd returned to Suna. What was the murderers' motive for this attack? Rasa had come to the conclusion that they'd been after the prisoner they'd saved from Gaara. The man had talked about being chased, and it seemed he was right.

_Wait..._ Rasa dropped the scroll he'd been staring at and shifted through the unorganized pile next to him. Finding the scroll he was looking for, he opened Ochida's ground report at the embassy when he'd first inspected it.

Quickly scanning the scroll, he realized he couldn't remember, because it wasn't in the report. _Where did the suspected spy go? He wasn't with the other dead Kumo Shinobi._

Rasa took another sip of his coffee and leaned back in his seat. _They took his body. Because he knew something that they didn't want anyone learning. He was saying something about a stone... no, "the" stone... could he mean the-_

"Good morning, Father."

Rasa looked over and smiled. Quickly picking up all the scrolls, he dropped them back into the satchel he'd brought them home in. Once space had been cleared, Temari carefully set a plate of steaming food in front of her father.

"Thank you, Temari."

His eldest daughter bowed slightly and headed back toward the kitchen. A moment after she disappeared from sight, his eldest son walked into the room, carrying his own plate of food.

"Welcome back, Father," Kankuro said as he set his plate down. "What took you so long?"

Rasa chuckled, "I had some complications on the return trip, but it wasn't a problem."

"Well, I, for one, am glad you're home," Temari announced as she entered the dining room carrying her own plate of food.

Rasa looked at her questioningly. After realizing his mistakes with his youngest, Gaara, he'd been making a pointed effort to improve his relationship with all his children. Being present for these morning meals was something he tried to always do now.

"Baki-san has been horribly stressed out, though he won't tell me why, of course," Temari explained, sitting down at the chair on his right, across from Kankuro. There were eight chairs at this table, and when Gaara did show up to eat, he usually sat on the opposite side.

It didn't look like Gaara would be eating with them today.

"Yes, some things happened while I was gone, but I'm working on dealing with them. Baki should have some free time soon to train with you again, Temari." Rasa said, and Temari nodded.

"How has the Academy been?" He asked and smiled as his daughter's face lit up with excitement as she hurriedly swallowed the food in her mouth.

"It's been awesome. As you said, I've been assigned a war fan! I love it so much."

Rasa nodded, happy to see his daughter so excited. He'd done some elementary training with Temari and Kankuro before enrolling them into the Shinobi Academy. What field Kankuro would be best for was unclear, but Temari's had been blatantly obvious from the beginning. Her elemental affinity being Wind only confirmed it for him.

"It's going okay, I guess," Kankuro replied.

He sighed inwardly, Kankuro was being closed off again. It's not that he didn't want to press further, he did but… what if he messed it up? He didn't want Kankuro to hate him as Gaara did, so Rasa let it go. At least for now..

Sensing movement on the floor above, Rasa paused. Temari and Kankuro didn't know the prince was here. He'd brought Naruto to the mansion after his children had already gone to bed.

"Oh, something I forgot to mention. We have a guest. He will be staying for a while."

Temari looked at him in surprise, they didn't have guests. This being Gaara's home usually kept everyone far away from the Kazekage Mansion. "Who is it?"

—

Naruto's eyes shot open, and the terror of darkness faded into the soft morning light. He fought down his initial desire to scream for his father, and settled for activating his Byakugan to examine his surroundings.

Nothing.

He was alone in his room, safe beneath the covers of an unfamiliar bed. There was no reason for him to be afraid. Rubbing his eyes through his blindfold, Naruto shifted off the edge of the bed and moved toward the wooden closet.

Looking inside, he found it to be empty. He would have to organize his own things now. Unperturbed, he picked up the scroll on his nightstand and unrolled it. Letting his chakra flow into the seal, he backed up as smoke exploded into the air with a small pop.

Quickly changing into the new clothes, Naruto shifted his Byakugan to focus on his hair. It was always an unruly mess, but he wasn't looking for that. Shaking his head in annoyance at himself, he moved toward the connected bathroom and stepped inside. Closing the door, he slipped off his blindfold and set it on the counter.

Naruto leaned forward just enough to be able to see the top of his head in the reflection of the mirror. He shifted through his hair, checking it for a few moments with his actual eyes. Satisfied, he tried to fix his hair and put his blindfold back on.

Activating his Byakugan, he located Rasa on the floor below in the dining room. There were two children with him that Naruto had noticed sleeping last night.

Making his way down the stairs, Naruto stopped for a moment just beyond the doorway into the dining room.

"Who is it?" The girl asked Rasa. Naruto didn't know her name.

"He's the eldest son of a man named Edano Matsu. A rich lord in Kazedama." Rasa replied, looking at him through the wall, though Rasa couldn't actually see him. "The Daimyō requested that I bring Matsu's son back with me to Suna so that he could enroll in the Academy to become a Shinobi."

Naruto started toward the doorway. Any other questions as to his origin would be up to him to deal with now.

"Will he be joining us for breakfast?" The girl asked. Naruto didn't see Rasa's response because he was focusing on the door handle. "I'll give him Gaara's breakfast then."

Naruto paused. His hand inches away. For the first time, he processed that Gaara was Rasa's son, which meant that he lived in this house. Expanding his perception, Naruto anxiously tried to find the Jinchuriki. He would have to always be on guard when in the mansion.

"He's coming," Rasa said, and Naruto stopped his search. Opening the door, he stepped inside and bowed. He pretended to not see the look of curiosity and surprise from Rasa's two eldest. He was just slightly shorter than the boy, but the girl was much taller than he was.

The moment dragged on awkwardly. Naruto felt it was unnecessary to introduce himself as Rasa already had, though he wasn't sure if him knowing that would blow his cover. He was about to move toward one of the seats when the girl bowed to him in return.

"Hello. Sorry, my name is Temari, and this is my brother Kankuro."

Deciding it was best to pretend to be ignorant, he bowed again. "My name is Edano Naruto. It is a pleasure to meet you, Temari-san, Kankuro-san."

His father would have disapproved of the second bow, as it gave the indication that he was weak and submissive. However, he doubted that Rasa's children would pick up on that or care. Extra respect wouldn't hurt here.

Naruto remained silent as the conversation stopped, Temari staring at his blindfold in confusion. He was probably going to be getting that reaction a lot. Temari glanced at her father, and Rasa gestured toward the seat next to hers. Her confusion was evident, and Naruto shared it.

He stopped the urge to turn his head toward her when she turned to face him again, he wasn't sure why though.

"If you will sit here, I'll bring you some food." She said, her tone polite. It was clear she did not feel comfortable around him. He took the offered seat and thanked her. As usual, he pretended to not see the look of confusion Temari and her brother had as he walked across the room as if he wasn't blind.

He stayed silent as Temari left, exiting by another door into the kitchen. Naruto was surprised to find a lack of servants in the substantial and lavish kitchen. As she walked back in, carrying a plate of food that had been sitting on the counter, he tried to find any servants in the mansion. There were none.

She set the food on the table in front of him, and he thanked her again.

"Temari-san," he said, and she turned toward him, though he continued facing across the table. "Why did you give me this food?"

"What do you mean?"

"You are the eldest daughter of the Kazekage, surely this is beneath you."

"Oh." She replied, glancing at her father before looking back at him. "We haven't had servants in the mansion for years. When I was very young, my mother dismissed them all and did the work herself. She taught me to cook, and when she died... I took up tending the mansion and cooking. It isn't that hard."

"I see, thank you."

Taking a bite of the food, he savored it, letting it sit in his mouth for a few moments before swallowing it. It was delicious. He'd had better at the Palace, but that didn't need to be brought up. It would not improve his standing with Temari to tell her that.

"This is delicious, Temari-san."

"Thank you," she replied, somewhat hesitantly. Naruto realized that Kankuro was still staring at his blindfold. Temari was doing the same, and frequently glancing at her brother.

"Could you teach me how to cook, Temari-san?" He asked, deciding to actually turn and face her. He hoped he was handling this correctly. His father had told him he would have to socialize with kids his age and had given some instructions, but most of it was for him to discover. Other than Gaara, he had never interacted with kids his age.

"Uh... sure. I'm okay with that," Temari replied.

"Thank you. I've never had the chance to learn, despite enjoying good food and wanting to learn," he said. "For most of my life, I've been blind. It was only recently that I learned the Echolocation Jutsu."

Temari's and her brother's face lost their perpetual look of confusion, and Temari smiled. "Of course! I would love to teach you how to cook. If you want, I can take you on a tour around Suna. Father said you are enrolling in the Academy?"

He nodded, "Thank you. My father wishes for me to become a Shinobi, and thank you for your offer. I accept."

"We'll go right after everyone finishes eating. The Academy is closed today, so I have time to show you around," Temari explained.

—

Closing the massive front doors, Rasa poured chakra into the locking seal embedded in the heartwood. He didn't have any faith that the seal would prevent a Shinobi from getting in, but it was also the only lock the door had. So it at least prevented a civilian from walking up and opening it.

Sprawled out in front of him was the modest walled-in yard of his mansion. There wasn't a lot of space here, but it was large enough to have a few decorations if he ever bothered to add them. Running down the middle was a simple path of sandstone from the front steps to the gate, which exited out onto the street.

He watched Temari hold open the front gate for Naruto, who thanked her and stepped onto the empty street. There were rarely ever any civilians near the Kazekage Mansion due to the possibility of Gaara being here. Rasa kind of liked it.

Rasa heard an unfamiliar noise and was surprised to realize it was the sound of the gate closing. He'd never used the gate before.

Feeling the concentration of chakra beside him, Rasa turned to see Tanyu step out of a swirl of sand.

"Follow me, we're going to the Naizen Bar," Rasa ordered.

Tanyu nodded and activated the first stage of the Shunshin. Chakra flowed out of him in a straight beam until it reached the nearest rooftop in front of him. Turning abruptly, it flew straight toward another roof a hundred feet away. The process repeated well over a dozen times, and near instantaneously. Once the chakra beam had reached the bar's front step, Tanyu released the chakra holding him still.

Like a rubber-band, the chakra pulled him forward at an unfathomable speed, desperate to return to its natural shape. Within a split second, he had reached the bar. The swirl of sand cleared after a second, and he found Rasa already opening the door.

Pulsing chakra into the doorknob, Rasa felt it unlock and turned it. He nodded in response to the greetings of several of his men as he stepped into the Shinobi-only bar. This had been his favorite bar for as long as he could remember, so he'd had a special booth created in it for him.

Looking over the numerous tables and rowdy Shinobi, he spotted Sasori and Baki already sitting at his booth. It took only a moment to navigate the tables and reach the box. As he stepped through the barrier surrounding the table, the constant noise faded away to complete silence.

Rasa and Tanyu sat down, and a moment later, a waiter stepped through the barrier. Quickly taking their orders, Tanyu only wanting water, and Rasa taking a Juyondai, the waiter hurried back out. It was against the rules to stay any longer than absolutely necessary in the Kazekage's booth.

Sasori looked at Rasa expectantly. Rasa shook his head. They would wait until the waiter returned, he didn't want to be walked in on. Once the waiter had returned, and he'd had a few sips of his saké to make sure it was right, Rasa closed the door to the booth and locked it. It could be unlocked from the outside in the case of an emergency, but it required an extra step and prevented someone from just walking in.

"I'm going to begin by explaining in a rough summary to Baki what happened at Kazedama. Sasori already knows some of this, and Tanyu knows some things that Sasori doesn't. I'll be explaining as much as I can." Rasa started, getting a look of surprise from Sasori. Tanyu just took a sip of his water.

Baki leaned back against the booth, waiting.

"As mentioned in the Daimyo's summons, he was attacked in his home. However, these attacks are not new. They have been going on for the last few years, usually a month or so in between each attack."

Rasa could see that Baki already had questions, but kept himself in check. "The goal of the attackers is uncertain, but they seemed to be going after the prince, possibly to blackmail the Daimyo. "

Baki breathed deeply through his nose, staring at a spot on the table as he listened.

"Because of this, the Daimyo wanted his son to come to Suna to become a Shinobi in secret."

Baki sat up, "So that kid in your office last night was the prince?"

Rasa nodded and took the opportunity to take another swig from his sake. He'd been craving some Juyondai for several weeks now, and that junk saké at the bar in Nekokami had not done it for him. Over-drinking probably didn't help either. "He's known publicly as Miyasato Sakamoto, though his real name is Naruto."

Baki nodded to himself slowly, "and he's blind?"

"Almost blind. He can see a little bit of light," Sasori said, "The Daimyo taught him the Echolocation Jutsu. The blindfold he wears is to block out the last bit of light so he can rely entirely on the jutsu."

Sasori looked at Rasa in confusion as Rasa shook his head. Swallowing, Rasa set the bottle back on the table and wiped his chin.

"He's not blind at all."

Sasori leaned forward, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"He has the Byakugan."

Rasa took another swig of his saké, pretending to ignore the shocked looks on Sasori's and Baki's faces. Secretly, he was enjoying it.

—

"If you don't mind me asking, how does the Echolocation Jutsu work? It sounds cool." Temari asked. They had just left the public library in Suna, which had been one of the first things Naruto wanted to see. She'd been watching him and was curious to know how he would be able to read the scrolls.

"Why did you ask me if I minded, but asked your question anyway before I answered?"

Temari stopped walking and looked at Naruto, who was still facing forward. "You're right. Sorry. Do you mind?"

Naruto shook his head and continued walking. Temari was confused for a few moments before shaking it off.

"So... how does it work?"

"It allows me to pulse my chakra into space around me. The chakra bounces off things, and when it makes it back to me, I can see the shapes of what it bounced off of."

Temari was ready with her next question, "Can you see color?"

Naruto was confused as to why that mattered and realized he didn't have a prepared answer for her question. With the Echolocation Jutsu, he couldn't see color, but he'd said earlier in the library that he looked forward to reading the scrolls.

"No."

Temari looked too eager to ask her next question.

"So how could you read the scrolls if you can't see color?"

The way she asked the question made Naruto think she was purposefully trying to expose him as a liar. Regardless, he still had to answer the question. His first impulse was to say that he'd meant that others would read the scroll aloud for him, but if she ever caught him actually reading, then the lie would fall apart. Naruto tried to find some reason for what he'd said, but nothing was coming to him.

_It's my first day here, and I'm already failing to keep this illusion together,_ Naruto thought.

"I try to feel the symbols with my fingers. What I can't make out, I ask someone to read for me."

Naruto was relieved when Temari seemed to accept his answer. It would be much easier to pretend to be feeling the symbols on the scrolls than to have someone read everything out loud for him. Naruto shifted his attention to the civilians on the sides of the street, noticing that several were looking at him curiously.

Pulling his sleeves farther down, Naruto folded his arms in front of him in, hiding his hands in his sleeves. Temari noticed the movement and glared at the closest civilian, who averted their gaze. Naruto was unsure whether or not to thank her. He didn't really care that people were looking at him, but he didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to himself.

"Don't let them bother you, Naruto. You're not the only one with skin like that in Suna."

He nodded but didn't unfold his arms.

"Let's go to the Academy next, I'll show you around. It'll save you time on your first day, and I can get us in easily." Temari said, sounding as if she was almost boasting, and he agreed.

—

"Is this allowed?" Naruto asked as he watched Temari climb over the fence and drop down on the other side. After about thirty minutes of walking leisurely throughout Suna, they had arrived at the Shinobi Academy. He'd expected to use the front entrance, but Temari had led him around the back instead.

"It's fine," Temari called over the fence. "The Academy is closed today, but I'm allowed in whenever. Kazekage's daughter and all that."

He waited patiently for several minutes as she fiddled with the lock on the gate. Hitting the padlock with apparent anger, she took a step back.

"I can't get it open... Uh... could you?"

Pulsing chakra through his legs, Naruto leaped up. Crouching, he kept his balance centered on the thin, flimsy boards of the fence, his arms still folded in front of him. Temari raised her arm to block out the sun behind him.

"Why didn't you just do that in the first place?" She asked as Naruto dropped down in the Academy yard.

"I thought you were going to open the gate," Naruto replied, already walking toward the back entrance of the building. Temari couldn't tell if he'd meant something by that, or not.

"Over there are the sparring circles, and that there is the kunai range," Temari said, pointing to each as they walked across the ample space. Naruto nodded.

As they stepped up the small flight of stairs to the door, Naruto was concerned she was going to try to lock pick it as well. He was pleasantly surprised when she just opened the door instead and stepped inside confidently. He followed and closed the door behind him.

"So, where to start..." Temari said, having stopped farther down the hallway as she peered into various open and empty classrooms. "We have a lot of classes here. Not all of them are required, though."

Naruto stepped up beside her.

"Oh, over there is Sensei Soseki's class, he teaches Basic Taijutsu."

The mentioned classroom had mats on the floor instead of chairs or benches. Naruto had already taken a brief look through most of the place, and he was confident he could find his way around. He just needed to learn where each class was.

"I'm not sure what classes you'll be put in," Temari said, "but I'm pretty sure you will start your day off with a history lesson from Sensei Hirofumi. His classroom is that one there."

Temari pointed to a room as they walked by it. It didn't look different from many of the other classrooms. Starting from the middle of the room, several rows of benches climbed up a broad set of stairs until reaching the back wall. The room was undecorated and had a simple podium at the front. It seemed to be the default layout for classrooms in the Academy.

"The first few weeks are the worst, but it ends, I promise you," Temari said. Naruto was confused by her reassurance but kept quiet. "You have to sit behind a desk most of the time. Afterward, you get to actually practice and train with weapons."

"Do the students spar with the weapons?"

"Yeah." Temari replied, "Well, they spar without weapons. They usually only allow fourth years to spar with actual weapons, and that's rare."

Temari didn't notice that Naruto had stopped walking in the middle of the hallway, and took another couple of steps before stopping. She was about to ask what was wrong when Naruto spoke.

"Temari-san, we need to leave."

Before she could even ask why Naruto had already turned around and started walking the way they'd come. She hurried to catch up beside him, trying to read his expression.

"What's wrong?"

She hadn't heard anything in his voice, but he was walking faster than he had the entire morning.

"Gaara is here," Naruto replied without turning to look at her. Temari felt her blood freeze. Gaara wasn't allowed on these grounds. His protection team should have stopped him from even getting close. Which meant he'd either killed the Shinobi assigned to watch him or escaped them. Neither would surprise her.

However, the fact that he had done either meant that Gaara wanted something _badly_. She knew it wasn't her, Gaara wouldn't kill her, and if he wanted to, he would do it at night while she was asleep in her bed.

_There isn't anyone else in this building but us, which means that Gaara is after Naruto,_ Temari realized. She wished she'd thought to bring her war fan even though she knew it wouldn't help.

The exit seemed to be getting farther away, not closer as they hastily hurried down the hall. Something prevented her from breaking into a run, like prey too scared to flee for its life. She could feel her brother's stifling aura in the hallway behind her, but she refused to turn around and look.

She lurched as a swirl of sand appeared directly in front of them. Grabbing Naruto's arm, Temari hauled him backward as Gaara stepped out of sand in front of them. She nearly fell but managed to keep her balance.

"What are you doing here, Gaara?"

Naruto didn't resist as Temari pulled him behind her, shielding him with her body. He wasn't sure what she hoped to accomplish by doing that. _Perhaps she has some control over Gaara? She is his sister, after all,_ Naruto thought.

"Move."

Naruto back-pedaled as Temari pushed him, trying to put space between them and Gaara. The redheaded Jinchuriki hadn't moved since appearing in front of them. His pale green, emotionless eyes stared at Naruto, seemingly able to see him through Temari. His hands were folded in front of him, and Naruto could see the sand in his gourd, shifting back and forth.

"Gaara, you're not allowed to be here." Temari tried to find some way to escape, but nothing came to mind. Running from Gaara was out of the question, and there wasn't anyone around to protect them.

Unbothered, Gaara began slowly stepping toward them, his expression unchanged. Temari back-pedaled faster, trying to keep the distance between them. There was an exit on the other side of the hallway that led to the entrance of the Academy. The slight bit of hope she felt was immediately crushed. Gaara would never let them get that far. He was playing with them.

_Why is he doing this, Gaara traveled back with Naruto from Kazedama, didn't he? Why would he only try to kill Naruto now? _She thought. Turning around, she leaned close to Naruto's ear.

"Run, for the end of the hall. Go!" She pushed Naruto down the hall and spun around. Temari wasn't sure why she was rushing headlong toward her brother, but she had to give Naruto time to escape. Temari was confident that Gaara wouldn't kill her.

Sand exploded upward from the gourd on Gaara's back as he unfolded his arms. Whirling through the air, it crashed into the ground and sped toward her.

Gaara watched as his sister was batted aside by his sand, slamming into the wall and falling to the floor. Unconscious. He stared at her for a moment before turning back toward Naruto, who was still standing in the hallway. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. Naruto should have been running away, but the brown-haired boy was standing still.

Once again, his sand moved on its own. Leaping up around him, it created a shield above his head. A katana glanced off the hardened surface with a resounding clang. Turning to look over his shoulder, he caught a glimpse of a Jounin Teacher before they vanished again.

Twitching a finger, sand flew out in a seemingly random direction, sharpening as it extended. Warm, red blood splashed against the sand. Gaara watched the life leave the Shinobi's eyes as he died, impaled through the heart.

—

Naruto knew running was pointless, but he hadn't run because he'd hoped to buy the Shinobi hiding in the rafters some time. It was clear, however, that they'd never stood a chance against Gaara. They should have run and gotten help.

Now they were dead.

He didn't have to look back to know Gaara was coming after him. He saw the chakra in the air a split second before the redhead appeared in front of him, staring at him blankly as he stepped out of a swirl of sand.

Naruto saw it coming, but he wasn't fast enough to dodge Gaara's hand as he reached out and gripped his throat. He tried to pry Gaara's hand off his neck, but he wasn't strong enough. His Byakugan deactivated as he began to run out of oxygen, and darkness filled his mind.

—

Sasori raised his hand, causing Rasa to stop talking and look toward where he was pointing. The door to the booth slammed open, and a Shinobi hurriedly stepped inside.

"Kazekage-sama, Gaara has killed a teacher at the Shinobi Academy. We found Temari unconscious at the scene... and a boy with pale skin. We don't-"

Rasa was already gone. Shooting across the bar, he threw open the door and kicked off, launching himself onto the roof across the street. Putting in more chakra than needed, he blasted forward, denting the roof beneath him. Sasori was closest behind him as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop, moving at an insane speed. Baki and Tanyu struggled to keep up with their two leaders.

Sticking himself to the roof with chakra, Rasa used his foot to propel himself downwards as he redirected his momentum. Bits and chunks of the roof flew up into the air behind him. Landing hard in the training field of the Academy, he tore through the open door without a second wasted. He could sense people in a nearby hallway and swiftly navigated his way through the building to appear next to them.

There were several Suna Shinobi there, two of which were putting a dead Academy Sensei on a stretcher. One was tending to Temari as they worked on the wound on the back of her head. Tanyu darted past Rasa and grabbed the wrist of the medic Shinobi as he was about to activate a Jutsu on Naruto.

"I'll take over here," Tanyu ordered, getting a bewildered nod from the medic who backed up quickly.

"All of you clear out," Sasori ordered, and the hallway emptied almost instantly as the Shinobi activated Shunshin. Tanyu's hands became engulfed in green flames as he laid them on Naruto's chest.

"He's going to be okay, but his trachea is severely damaged. I'm working on patching it back together now. Sasori, pump his chest." Tanyu ordered. A moment later, Naruto spasmed on the floor under Tanyu's hands as Sasori pumped his chest, causing him to cough blood violently all over the floor.

"Looks like your attempt to bond Gaara to Naruto didn't pan out, Rasa," Baki remarked grimly as he watched Tanyu work on Naruto's severely bruised neck.

"He isn't dead." Sasori countered as he carefully followed Tanyu's orders.

* * *

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	10. A Sister's Love

There was nothing Tera hated more than hiring civilians, but his hand had been forced. He'd been a fool, and his master would have frowned at the choices he'd made. He'd allowed emotions to dictate his actions and had failed to think logically. Many had been lost.

He was wrong, his master would have killed him for his failures.

Suppressing the chakra in his core, he skillfully slipped past the two Shinobi guarding the gates. There were more in the shadows above him, but they didn't notice him. Shinobi relied on Chakra for everything, and many forgot to train their senses to detect the basics.

The moon shone brightly on the sleeping city of Kazedama as Tera made his way through the shadows cast by the tall buildings. Peace had dulled the senses of the Shinobi, made them overconfident. Even with their after their past intrusions, the Shinobi were not _truly_ on guard.

However, like bees, the closer one got to the Queen, the stronger the average bee became, and Shinobi were much the same. That was why the Daimyo was protected by the strongest the Land of Wind had to offer. It was just an unfortunate coincidence that the Daimyo had what he wanted.

He was in Kazedama to check the validity of the reports he'd been getting from the civilians his men had paid. It might already be too late, but he couldn't afford to ignore the rumors. Of course, as to be expected of such poor excuses for informants, none had tried to actually confirm anything. Only one had even stated there was a rumor, but the reports of others seemed to support it.

The rumor was the prince had left Kazedama unannounced, possibly with the Kazekage. If it was true, he needed to locate the prince immediately. It was doubtful the Daimyo didn't expect them to go after his son, but that didn't mean an opportunity to finally capture the prince wouldn't present itself.

Pausing in a shadowy dead-end alleyway, Tera looked up toward the sky. The moon was barely visible beyond the edge of the tall building in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he loosened his shoulders. Great physical exertion without chakra required one to relax, to prepare their body.

Stepping back a few feet, he made a running start and ran up the side of the wall long enough to grab the edge of a hanging balcony. Pausing for a moment, he waited to see if any of the guards just forty feet away had sensed him.

Effortlessly hauling his body through the cold night air, Tera hopped over the balcony railing. It took him less than four seconds to pick the lock of the balcony door and slip inside the apartment room. He didn't bother to close it behind him. Silently moving across the room, he didn't spare the man sleeping in bed a glance.

Delicately unlocking the door to the hallway, he cracked it open just enough to slip through. Repeating the process on the next room across the hall, he stepped out onto the balcony facing the courtyard of the Daimyo's Palace. No one would notice him on the second floor, which was just high enough to see over the courtyard walls.

Palace security had increased drastically in the last four years, but it wasn't impossible to beat. He just wished he'd considered kidnapping the prince to blackmail his father from the beginning. The chance had presented itself four years ago, and he'd passed it up, instead going for the Daimyo's wife.

Afterward, it had been too late. More Shinobi were recruited for the Daimyo's Guard, walls were sealed and reinforced. It would be impossible to sneak back out while carrying the Prince, especially without the use of chakra.

Rolling his shoulders, he hopped up on the railing of the balcony and jumped.

He waited for some time at the railing, straining all of his senses for anyone in the shadows he couldn't sense. Breaking into such a secure location, guarded by numerous high-sensitive sensory Shinobi required extremes. His core was throbbing painfully as the chakra within tried to escape, to flow through his body.

He was forcing his chakra to compress far beyond what most Shinobi would even consider, and he couldn't do this for long, or his chakra system would die from lack of use. He would indisputably die shortly after.

Hoisting himself over the wall, he dropped to the ground below. There wasn't any cover, and he was forced to rely on his ability to suppress his chakra as he sprinted across the courtyard. Keeping to the shadows as much as possible, he quickly reached the base of the palace on the left side of the grand stairs.

Immediately jumping up onto a thin ledge running along the side of the base, Tera kept his balance with ease, though the surface was barely more than half an inch wide. He reached the corner of the palace a moment later and peered around. It seemed like his only worry was a guard holding a bright torch a couple dozen feet ahead of him.

He couldn't wait for the guard to get farther away. He was exposed, and if someone were to look, they would see him. Risking detection, he picked up speed as he ran down the side of the palace along the thin ledge. Leaping into the air, he managed to barely grab the bottom of a hanging balcony.

Pulling himself up, he didn't bother to check the door as he quickly leaped up again and grabbed the overhanging roof, lithely pulling himself up. Hooking his fingers under the edge of a cracked open window, he slipped inside onto the third and abandoned floor of the palace.

—

Darting into the room on his left, Tera closed the door behind him as quickly and quietly as he could. Not waiting to see if he'd been caught, he darted across the empty and colorless room to the far window. Throwing it open, he slipped out and closed it behind him with one hand.

Pivoting on his wrist, he rotated to face the palace wall, keeping his grip tight on the window sill. He waited for several minutes, ignoring the cold desert winds tearing at his hooded face.

_I should have expected such use of the Shunshin. It lures the intruder into a false sense of security, unable to detect anyone around, they appear suddenly. Most Shinobi would have been caught there. Brilliant. Tera _thought, carefully keeping track of the unknown Shinobi on the other side of the wall.

After a few minutes, during which his hand began to complain from the biting cold, the Shinobi eventually vanished once more. He briefly considered trying again, but he'd noticed that there was a suspicious number of Chakra Signatures in the garden below him. Other than the third and fourth floors, the palace grounds were the only other place where he could sense Shinobi.

Like most Shinobi-infested areas, the first two floors of the Daimyo's Palace were covered in seals that prevented sensing someone inside.

However, for there to be this many signatures in the palace garden was an unusual event, and he decided to check it out first. Letting go of the window sill, Tera free fell well over two dozen feet and hit the ground with a roll.

Instead of immediately getting to his feet, he stayed flat on the ground, waiting to see if he'd been detected. Missions like this often came down to luck. If someone was looking at the right spot at the right time, they'd see him. There wasn't anything that could be done about that.

It only took a few minutes to get up into the trees and move closer to the signatures. As Tera had suspected, the one in the middle was the Daimyo. He had to slow to a mere snail's crawl as he moved through the last few trees. There were at least a dozen Shinobi here.

Three were beneath him, underground, four in the bushes, and the last four were in the trees with him. They were all spread out at varying distances, and the apparent gaps in some of the defenses made him concerned there were Shinobi he couldn't detect present as well. He gave those spots a wide berth.

Peering into the small clearing, Tera saw the Daimyo sitting on the grass next to the prince, reading something to the pale-skinned boy. The Prince's face was obscured by a hood, making it impossible for him to be sure.

He couldn't risk staying any longer. If the rumors were true, then the Daimyo would be trying to make it seem like the prince was still here. Carefully moving his hand, he grasped a branch behind him. Hearing leaves rustle ever so slightly, Tera froze.

_That wasn't me._

Barely turning his head, his hood shifted just enough to give him the visibility he needed. Perched on a branch, not even two feet below him, was a Kunoichi. She was staring through the leaves intently toward the Daimyo and his son. It seemed she wasn't aware he was there. Tera had already instinctively stopped breathing.

He was trapped until she moved. He couldn't get to the next tree without using chakra to mask the sound, and that would undoubtedly give him away from such a short distance.

Looking back toward the Daimyo, he noticed that the Prince had raised his hood.

_So it's not the prince, it is a decoy child,_ Tera thought as he carefully observed the similarly pale-skinned boy sitting next to the Daimyo. Now that he could see their face, he realized their skin was more tan than the prince's had been. _Then where is the prince? If the Kazekage did come here to take him, would he have brought the prince back with him to Suna? _

**Kazekage Mansion, Suna, Land of Wind, EN.**

Naruto laid still, waiting. He didn't remember waking up, but he remembered being terrified of something. No matter how hard he tried to recall what had caused the feeling, he couldn't. Finally giving up, Naruto sat up and activated his Byakugan.

Sliding off the bed, he walked over to his wardrobe and grabbed a pair of poorly-folded training clothes off a shelf. He still wasn't used to having to organize and fold his own things.

A scream made him twist around sharply. A moment of complete silence passed. He searched the whole mansion, and the grounds outside, but there was no one there. Feeling his neck burn, Naruto pressed his hand against it, but it was cold and clammy.

_What is going on?_ Naruto thought. Changing into the fresh clothes, Naruto made his way out of the mansion and closed the thick door behind him.

He hadn't returned to the Academy since Gaara's attack, and it took him a moment to recall how to get there. After getting out of the hospital, he'd spent most of his time at the public library reading.

Rasa had assigned him a personal guard, though Naruto hadn't met them yet, he'd briefly spotted them following him a couple of times. He had a guard now because he'd refused Rasa's offer to abandon learning at the Shinobi Academy, and instead be taught by a private tutor.

He'd chosen to stay with the Academy because it would have been what his father wanted. Rasa had clearly been against the idea and had assigned him a guard.

Since then, he hadn't seen Gaara even briefly, and he was beginning to wonder where the Jinchuriki was. However, he had refrained from asking Rasa about it.

The Shinobi academy came into his Byakugan's range after a few minutes of walking. Pushing open the front door, he stepped inside and headed down the left-most hallway.

Pausing, he stared at the spot Gaara had attacked him, trying to recall what had happened.

_I passed out, I wasn't able to break free of Gaara's grasp. _Naruto thought as he looked away and continued down the hall. _Why am I alive? No one came to save me, according to Rasa. Gaara just... left me? Why would he do that?_

Opening the sliding door in front of him, Naruto realized there was no one inside. Climbing up a few steps at the back, Naruto took a seat at one of the many benches. After a few moments of waiting, his mind still spinning, Naruto expanded his range drastically and attempted to find his teacher.

The building was empty, he was the only one here.

Naruto deactivated his Byakugan and lifted his blindfold enough to peer out the window. The sun had just barely begun to peek over the high walls of Suna. The class wouldn't be starting for at least another hour.

He decided to wait.

—

Carefully shutting the iron gate behind her, Temari locked it and checked both ways on the street. There was no one around, though there never was. Hurrying down the road, she rounded a corner and sighed in relief. No one had spotted her.

Kankuro wasn't aware of her early morning jaunts, and now that Naruto was living with them, she had to worry about him seeing her as well. If she was ever caught and couldn't come up with a good excuse, she wouldn't be allowed to do this anymore.

Temari frowned as she walked the empty streets, memories she'd tried and failed to repress flooding back. Her family didn't like talking about the night that had changed everything. Her father would refuse to talk and leave any time she brought it up. Kankuro was terrified of what he'd seen and would beg her to stop.

Inevitably, she'd stopped, even with her friends. No one in the city wanted to think about it. She supposed it made sense. Every place probably had something taboo to speak about.

She could understand why everyone was unwilling, fearful even, to talk about that night. It was just that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to forget about it like everyone else. Many people had lost family and friends that night, but for her, she had finally met her baby brother for the first time.

Before that, her father had never let her talk with or even see Gaara. She barely remembered seeing him right after he was born, then he was whisked away by Shinobi. Despite that, she vividly recalled her mother's happiness. How fondly her mother would talk about Gaara, and about how happy she was to have another child.

Because of that, wanting to make her mother proud of her, she'd promised to help take care of the family and Gaara once he was born.

It had been a childish promise, but one she'd made nonetheless. It was not one she could easily forget.

Then disaster had struck their family. Just hours after Gaara had been born, her mother died, and the world descended into anarchy. Kankuro's and her relationship with her father had been nearly nonexistent before, and it only got worse afterward. Rasa barely explained anything, like, for instance, that Gaara was being looked after by their uncle.

No matter how much she asked, Rasa would refuse to tell her anything about her youngest brother, almost seemingly wanting her to forget Gaara existed entirely.

Then one night, several years later, the air had been filled with a tremendous roar of primal anger had sent her running from her bedroom, screaming as things crashed to the floor around her.

A Shinobi had picked her up in the hallway and carried her away from the palace. They'd brought her to the safety of Suna's walls, along with Kankuro.

What she saw terrified her. A Sand Demon, towering over Suna, even the Kazekage tower, and destroying anything close to it. She'd watched as her father fought the beast and eventually defeated it. Days passed before Rasa finally relented and told her that the creature was her youngest brother, Gaara.

It had taken even longer for Rasa to admit why Gaara had released the Sand Demon. That night, her uncle had attempted to kill Gaara and failed. Gaara had killed the only person in the village that had ever been nice to him in self-defense, and it had finally pushed him over the edge.

_No one else seems to understand that or care,_ Temari thought sadly as she readjusted her grip on the paper bag in her arms. The bag was still warm, but she needed to hurry.

A month and several failed attempts to find Gaara later, Rasa had finally allowed her to see him through locked bars. Gaara had not been friendly to her, but he hadn't seemed to despise her either. That had given her hope that she could build a relationship with her brother.

She'd begged Rasa to let Gaara move into the Kazekage Mansion, and surprisingly, he'd eventually agreed. Kankuro had been very unhappy with her.

"Good morning, Shinobi-san," Temari said, bowing to the Shinobi who'd stepped out of seemingly thin air before her. She knew they were there simply because she'd visited this place so often.

"I assume you're here to visit the Jinchuriki?" The Shinobi asked though he was clearly not expecting a response as he unlocked a nondescript and uninteresting-looking door.

"Hai," Temari replied anyway, thanking the Shinobi as she stepped inside. The door closed behind her a second later. As one might expect, she was the only one who ever visited Gaara in his containment cell.

Making her way down the hallway, she waited as another mysterious masked Shinobi unlocked another door. This one was much larger, and made of metal that was several inches thick. It was meant to keep Gaara in an escape attempt if he somehow made it past the water that would flood the lower levels.

Personally, she didn't think Gaara would have a hard time escaping if he wanted to. Instead, she believed that Gaara willingly came here when he wanted to be away from everyone. No one bothered him here.

_Well... no one but me._

Accepting the offered torch, she began the descent to the third floor of the facility, where Gaara's cell was. This place had been constructed secretly shortly after the incident. Gaara was sent here whenever he began to act strangely. That, of course, meant he was trying to kill more people than usual.

After a few minutes, she reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped in front of yet another door. This one was opened by a seemingly invisible hand, but she knew it was a Shinobi under a Genjutsu. She just couldn't see them.

Once the door was opened, she waited for several minutes as two Shinobi she could see stepped inside first and began to disarm numerous deadly traps. Sasori had told her once that the traps were overkill, and would definitely kill most people. However, he'd added that he wasn't sure it would stop Gaara. They were untested.

Gaara had never tried to escape.

Walking down the hallway, she slipped her torch into a slot in the wall next to the iron bars. Sitting down crosslegged in front of the cell, she tried to see Gaara in the gloom beyond.

"Hey, I brought you some rolls. I know you like these." Temari said as she opened the paper bag and pulled out another piece of paper from inside. Smoothing it out on the ground, she carefully lifted two rolls out of the bag and placed them on the paper.

Tentatively pushing the paper so that the rolls were within grabbing distance of the cell, she straightened again. She'd made these rolls as quietly as she could, and not long ago so that they would be fresh when she came here.

A moment passed, and she sighed, unable to keep the sadness out of her voice. Gaara was ignoring her again. He'd been here for the last week, ever since attempting to kill Naruto, and she'd visited every day. Gaara had yet to say anything to her. Temari hadn't even seen him.

Leaning forward again, she pushed the paper farther into the cell. A minute passed. Temari waited, hoping to catch just a glimpse of her brother.

However, she couldn't stay forever. Several minutes passed by, and she eventually gave up, sighing as she got to her feet and brushed off her clothes. There was a lot of sand down here.

"I'll come again tomorrow, Gaara, and bring you some more rolls," Temari said as she crouched down and put the rest of the rolls in the bag on the paper. "If you get tired of them, you have to let me know."

Temari chuckled lightly to herself, though there wasn't any cheer in her voice. She'd come to realize that talking to voiceless shadows was harder that one might think.

Standing up, she crumpled the bag in her fist and began walking back down the hallway. Something moved in the corner of her eye, and she stopped. A hand had darted out of the darkness of the cage and grabbed one of the rolls.

Temari smiled, "I knew you enjoyed those. They would always go missing mysteriously at home, and you're the only one who would steal food from me."

She began to leave again when a quiet voice behind her made her pause and turn around.

"Why?"

"What do you mean, Gaara?"

Barely able to hear Gaara, she returned sat back down in front of the cell.

"Why do you come here?"

Temari smiled as warmly as she could. This was the first conversation she'd had with Gaara in some time that had lasted more than two sentences and hadn't ended with a threat of death.

"I care about you, Gaara, and I made a promise to our mother that I would help her look after you."

Gaara's voice became so venomous even she was shocked it was Gaara, "So it's honor."

She hurried to correct him, "No, no, no. It's love. I love you. You are my brother, and I care about you."

There was no response, but she waited regardless. This was the most progress she'd ever made. A hand slipped into the ring of torchlight and grabbed another roll. She stayed silent as Gaara slowly ate all the rolls.

Once they were all gone, she reached under the bars and grabbed the paper, pulling it out of the cage and crumbling it up with the bag in her hand.

"I saw something."

Temari tried to see Gaara's face, wanting to try to read his expression. There was an uncertainty in Gaara's voice, something she'd never heard before. It scared her.

"I saw... I saw a world... burning." Gaara murmured, barely louder than a whisper. She leaned closer, straining her ears. "There were people... they weren't like... us... but they could feel pain.. and fear."

Unsure if she should respond as the silence returned, she decided to wait.

"There were destroyers. They burned everything. The people ran in fear for their lives..."

Temari jumped as Gaara's face suddenly appeared in the shadows, stopping a foot from the bars. A look of desperation in Gaara's eyes terrified her more than anything she'd ever seen in her life.

"But there was nowhere for them to go, they all burned!"

—

Hearing footsteps approaching him, Naruto stirred and focused his Byakugan on the classroom doorway. He'd gotten lost in thought after losing interest in watching civilians nearby begin their day. Here or in Kazedama, the life of a civilian was boring to watch, and he'd quickly grown tired of it.

Naruto watched through his blindfold as a Shinobi he didn't recognize entered. They paused in apparent surprise in the doorway as they noticed him, but they didn't say anything. Instead, the Shinobi walking over to the wooden podium at the front and center of the room.

He remained silent as they organized the papers in their hands and carefully spread them out on the podium.

Naruto lifted his head slightly in recognition as they cleared their throat.

"Hello, my name is Hirofumi. I will be your Sensei for the History of both Suna and the Land of Wind. What is your name?"

Standing up, Naruto bowed respectfully, his hands hidden in his sleeves. It was a more formal way of bowing and was only used in higher society. Hirofumi clearly noticed the gesture. "I am Edano Naruto. My father sent me here to become a Shinobi in the Land of Wind's greatest Shinobi Academy."

Hirofumi chuckled, "I'm pleased to hear that your father thinks this is the Land of Wind's greatest academy. Regardless, welcome Naruto. I look forward to being your Sensei."

Naruto bowed again, though much less than before, and sat back down, his hands still folded in his sleeves. A few minutes passed as Hirofumi seemed to search through his papers before eventually finding a specific one.

"I must say I found your file to be very interesting. It's marked with the Kazekage's seal."

Naruto nodded, "Hai. My father asked Kazekage-sama to bring me back with him, as he was concerned about the safety of my journey to Suna."

"That makes sense," Hirofumi said, though more to himself than Naruto. "It also says that you _were_ blind, but aren't now. Oh, I see, I missed that before."

Naruto remained silent. Hirofumi was talking to himself and hadn't asked him a question.

"Not that it's any of my business as your History Sensei, but how well can you see using the Echolocation Jutsu?" Hirofumi asked curiously as he observed Naruto's blindfold. "I learned the Jutsu back in my Chūnin days but never had a situation where it was useful. I'm curious to know if I should devote some time to practicing it again."

"I can see as well as most, though I cannot see color, and obviously, my sight is limited in range. For example, I have never seen the sun, though it has been described to me." Naruto lied.

"I see, thank you," Hirofumi said, once more returning to his papers. "Oh, yes. I almost forgot. You are aware that you don't need to arrive this early for class, correct?"

Naruto nodded.

"Good, very good."

More footsteps echoed through the classroom walls, sounding like a stampede. Naruto shifted his attention to the hallway. A large crowd of children was entering the Academy, splitting into three groups as they reached the three corridors on the first floor.

The children ranged in age from his age to several years older. He noticed a couple were carrying various weapons on them, while others looked awestruck by everything around them.

Naruto spotted Temari and Kankuro as they walked past his classroom, heading toward the stairs at the end of the corridor that lead to the second floor. His attention was drawn back to his immediate surroundings by the sound of the classroom door sliding open.

A young boy with short hair stuck his head inside and looked around for a second before focusing on Hirofumi.

"Is this Sensei Hirofumi's class?"

"Hai," Hirofumi answered with a smile and gestured to the rows of benches on the other side of the room. Naruto didn't react as the boy looked over and noticed him. They seemed confused, possibly by his strange appearance, but they said nothing.

Naruto felt a rush of some strange emotion as the boy sat down on the opposite side of the room from him. He chose to ignore it. Over the next couple of minutes, twelve more kids his age entered the room and found seats.

One of them, the last to enter, was a boy with streaks of some odd color through his hair, who choose to sit down next to him.

"Hello, my name is Hogari Sengwari," they said, offering their hand.

Naruto didn't turn to face them, but slipped a hand out of his sleeve and shook their hand. He was surprised by the firmness of their grip despite them being the same age as him. "I am Edano Naruto."

"Class is now in session, no more talking!" Hirofumi called out, tapping a long ruler on the chalkboard behind him to get everyone's attention.

"We'll be starting with some basic history of Sunagakure's founding. Some of you may already know about this topic from your parents, but for those that don't, I want to get you up to speed."

* * *

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Hogari (Grimtruth)


	11. The Academy

"Are there any questions?"

Hirofumi tapped the ruler against his palm as he surveyed the class. After waiting for a moment, he nodded and set the ruler down on the lip of the chalkboard. Walking over to the podium, which he'd moved off to the side during the lesson, he quickly reviewed his notes.

He'd wanted to make sure to open up his class this time with the most fundamental basics that every loyal Shinobi should know. It seemed like he'd succeeded. Neatly stacking his papers, he looked back up at the class.

"Everyone, if you will follow me? I'm going to show you to your next class."

Stepping off the raised platform, Hirofumi slid open the door and stepped out into the hall. Looking over his shoulder to make sure he was being followed, he made his way down the hallway.

After a few minutes of walking, he stopped in front of another door and slid it open before stepping to the side. He silently counted the students as they walked by. It was unlikely any had gotten lost, but one could never be too careful.

"You all need to remember how to get here," he said as the Genin hopefuls crowded around, trying to fit through the door all at once. "You will be coming here after my class on your own until told otherwise."

Scanning across the small sea of faces, Hirofumi noticed that the strange boy who had arrived early at his class was standing at the back. Another boy was standing next to them. If he recalled correctly, they were Hogari.

He'd gotten a lot of exciting students this year. Naruto from Kazedama, son of a rich lord, come to train to become a shinobi, a rare occurrence. Hogari, a promising student from the Sengwari Clan in Chikadō City to the southeast. Another exceedingly rare event as the Sengwari Clan and its Shinobi were rarely seen outside of Kazaana Province.

Hirofumi decided as the two boys walked by him into the classroom that he would definitely keep an eye on them. Their future looked very interesting.

—

Naruto had been curious to see if Hogari would decide to sit next to him again, and was pleasantly surprised when Hogari did so. Since introducing themselves, they'd get to say anything to each other. He wondered if he should try to start a conversation, but nothing came to mind.

Hearing a chair being pushed across the floor, Naruto directed his Byakugan toward the front of the class. He'd seen his new teacher through the wall as he waited for the doorway to clear. The man was clearly a Shinobi, possibly retired based on his age. Unlike Hirofumi, they had a thick beard and extremely tanned skin.

His new teacher walked around their desk and stopped at the center of the raised platform. Naruto watched curiously as they stared at everyone, focusing on each student individually before moving to the next.

"My name is Ishida. I'm your Basic Taijutsu Sensei, and you will be attending my class for the next year. While we will spend time in this classroom, it won't be much. Most of this class will be outside, which is where we're going now, so get moving."

Naruto stood up and waited for Hogari to move onto the steps before following after him. He could overhear several of his classmates complaining, but he didn't recognize their voices. _They're so loud, Ishida-sensei can hear them much easier than I can. _Naruto thought.

After they all made it out into the hallway, Ishida closed the door and moved to the front. They followed him out of the Academy and into the training yard in the back. There were numerous other classes outside as well. Naruto could see a class practicing Kunai throwing, another practicing wall climbing, and an older class sparring.

He was pulled away from watching the older students spar when Ishida raised his voice.

"Everyone! Space out and get down in push-up formation. There needs to be at least four feet between you and those around you."

Naruto unfolded his arms for the first time since arriving at the Academy and dropped into a push-up. Hogari did the same next to him, four feet away. The rest of their classmates quickly followed suit with only minor awkwardness.

"Now. I want you to do as many push-ups as you can. Do not stop until you can't do it anymore!" Ishida yelled, startling some of the students in his class. "Believe me when I say you do not want to be the first to give out."

Relaxing his arms, Naruto began doing standard push-ups. He knew he wouldn't be the last to give out, but he definitely wouldn't be the first. While physical training was his worst field, according to his father and Kanade, he was confident he could hold his own with first-year Academy students.

_I do need to focus more on my physical training though, _Naruto thought, already beginning to feel the strain in his arms. Since Ishida had not specified whether or not Chakra was allowed, he assumed it wasn't.

He noticed that Hogari was doing push-ups at a rate faster than anyone else in the class, which seemed pointless to him.

"Come on! Is that the most you can do? Get back up! Keep going!" Ishida yelled at the student on Naruto's right, who'd just given out and collapsed on the ground. Naruto wondered how many push-ups they'd done. He was confused by Ishida's instructions but continued doing push-ups. His arms were beginning to complain.

"You, over there, doing push-ups at a pace that would embarrass a snail. Move it!"

The cycle continued for another minute. Every time a student would give out, Ishida would yell at them until they resumed doing push-ups. Hogari had slowed down but was still moving faster than Naruto was.

"Enough!" Ishida called out abruptly, and the class collapsed as one. The air was filled with groans of relief as students were finally able to rub their sore arms. Naruto pushed up to his knees and began breathing deeply. Next to him, he noticed that Hogari also looked exhausted, but was still in better shape than most of the class.

"Now," Ishida said, bringing his class's attention to himself as he crouched down." Some of you might think that I don't know how many push-ups you did, or who failed first, or last. I just want to tell you that you're wrong. "

Ishida stood back up and began walking away, "Take a quick breather and then stand up. You've got a minute."

Naruto deactivated his Byakugan and focused on his breathing, slowly moving through the steps of the breathing exercise his father had taught him.

A few moments passed, and he'd just gotten his breathing entirely under control when he sensed Ishida walking back toward them. Reactivating his Byakugan, he got to his feet.

"Alright, all of you up on your feet," Ishida called out. Naruto saw Ishida looked at him for a moment before he turned away.

"See that beaten path around those sparring poles over there? I want you to run until your legs give out, and you collapse to the ground. GO!"

—

The wave of relief Naruto felt as he sat down made him realized that Kanade had been easy on him in his physical training. Other than Hogari, three other students had kept running after he finally gave out. That hadn't been the end of it either, Ishida had given them another minute break before making them all do sit-ups until they gave out.

It was apparent that the point of these exercises was so that Ishida could tell who needed the most improvement, and it made Naruto wonder what Ishida saw in him.

Feeling someone sit down on the bench next to him, Naruto shifted his Byakugan's focus on them. It was Hogari, and he looked exhausted, but in comparison to everyone else, he was in the best shape. _I'm going to bring training clothes to the Academy in the future,_ Naruto mused. His current clothes were ruined.

"Some of you might be hating me after all of that," Ishida said as he closed the classroom door behind him, "and that's fine."

Ishida's face changed, and it took Naruto a moment to realize the gruff man looked… sad. His habitually ramrod-straight posture had drooped ever so slightly, and his hard eyes became a little bit softer.

"I would rather all of you hate me for the rest of your lives… then have your life end in battle because you couldn't keep fighting. Because your Sensei didn't push you hard enough, didn't make sure you were really prepared to become a Shinobi."

The grumbling from the class had stopped completely, everyone was focused on Ishida.

"I say this… because being a Shinobi is not a joke, it's not a game, and while it has its moments… it's not fun." Ishida took a deep breath and drew back his shoulders. "However, I'm not the right person to tell you about the life of the Shinobi. I've been retired for ten years now. Therefore, with every new class, I invite one of Suna's active Shinobi to come and tell you about what being a Shinobi really means."

The room was silent as Ishida walked over to the window and unlatched it before sliding it open. A woman climbed in through the window and silently walked across the platform. Naruto was confused as Ishida seemed to ignore the Kunoichi as he walked over to his desk and sat down.

"I don't know what your parents, or teachers, have told you about what being a Shinobi means, and I don't really care. Over the last decade of being a Sensei here, I've learned that most of you kids get this idea in your head that being a ninja means you get to learn 'cool' abilities and take out baddies. That being a Shinobi is all fun and games."

Ishida scoffed as he propped his feet on his desk, "Well, it's not, and I'll let Maki here tell you about it.

Naruto was confused as he heard most of the class gasp.

_They couldn't see her, _Naruto realized._ She was using a Genjutsu, and I didn't see it._

"Hello everyone, my name is Tatsuda Maki." The blonde Kunoichi said as she waved to the class. "I'm a Jounin here in the Sunagakure Force, and Ishida has been kind enough to invite me to tell you all about being a Shinobi."

She paused for a moment as she slipped off the large scroll strapped to her back and set it on the floor next to her, leaning it against her leg.

"I think the first thing I'll start with is the common perception in younger people that being a Shinobi is, quote on quote, awesome," Maki said, noticing that several of the students looked embarrassed. "I'm fully willing to admit that when I first joined the Shinobi Academy, I had the same idea. So don't feel bad if you've thought that. While being a Shinobi has its moments, I wouldn't personally call it 'awesome.'"

"But Shinobi can climb walls, jump from roof to roof, and control wind… right?"

Maki nodded to the student in the middle who had asked the question, "Yes, we can do all of that, but when all of your enemies can do the same thing, it becomes normal. To civilians, it may look like we are strong, and in comparison to them, that is accurate. However, for instance, I would not call myself a strong Kunoichi."

"Why not?" A young girl asked. A look of confusion and curiosity on her face.

Maki shook her head and smiled, "I'm not saying that I'm weak, and I work to get stronger every day, but there will always be people stronger than you."

She raised her hand and cut off another student as he was about to ask a question. "I'll take more questions when I'm done."

The kid sat back down.

"Before we get any farther, I want you all to be aware that leaving the Shinobi Academy is not a disgrace. The large majority of kids that enter the Shinobi Academy here in Suna drop out before their first year is completed. Currently, we don't require those with the ability to use Chakra to join the Academy. However, in places like the Land of Water before and especially during the Civil War, joining the Kiri Force was mandatory, and kids were ripped away from their parents daily."

Maki folded her arms as she looked across the class, noting who was reacting to what she said the most. She noticed two peculiar boys sitting on the closest bench on the far right side. One had pale white skin, a rarity in the Land of Wind, and was wearing a blindfold. She would have to ask Ichida about that, blind children couldn't join the Academy.

The other kid, she immediately recognized as being from the Sengwari Clan by the green dye in his hair. She'd heard some conversation in the Shinobi bars about the kid, but she hadn't believed it. The clan rarely left their province.

"Of those who choose to stay in the Academy after their first year, an even smaller number become Genin, the first universal rank of the Shinobi. Most die taking their graduation exam."

Maki kept her face blank as numerous students looked at her in disbelief. It was clear they weren't aware of the graduation exam. It was common knowledge in Suna, but it wasn't talked about much. Civilian parents of children that died in the Exam weren't allowed to talk about how their child died. Shinobi parents just didn't talk about it, they knew the risks.

She slowly stared at each of the students individually, seeing which ones looked away and which didn't. "Take this into consideration if you haven't already, you are likely _never_ going to become a Shinobi. You're more likely to die. Is that a risk you want to take?"

She paused, but no one moved, no one said anything.

"Becoming a Shinobi anywhere in the Elemental Nations is no easy feat; it can't be. When one becomes a Shinobi, you become a herald of the Shinigami itself. You gain the power to decide who lives and who dies. As a Shinobi, you live, eat, and breathe Death. A single punch from a Shinobi that isn't restrained can kill a civilian, or go straight through a rock wall."

Her eyes narrowed as she noticed some of the students gaining looks of amazement and awe. This was not the reaction she wanted. When she'd become a student, there had been a war. She'd been forced to join, and if she'd had a choice not to, she would have refused. She wanted these kids to genuinely know what they were getting themselves into.

"Some of you think that's cool, and sometimes it is, but those times pale in comparison to the horrors you will experience as a Shinobi!"

As she continued, she began to pace back and forth across the podium. "You will defend your country with your life, even if that means taking the lives of others, and you _will_ do it without question, without hesitation! You will be ordered to knowingly lay down your life for those you have sworn allegiance to, and you will do it."

She waited for a few moments, watching the students as they processed what she'd said. As was to be expected, the Sengwari looked the least unbothered by her words.

"I'll take questions now."

She could tell that several students had questions, but they all seemed too intimidated to ask them. Maki was proud of herself, that was precisely the reaction she wanted. Seeing a young boy stand up a few rows back, she turned toward him.

"My parents told me that every Shinobi has a power that only they have… a bloodline or something like that. Is that true?"

Maki shook her head.

"Bloodlines, or Kekkai Genkai, are a rare combination of two or more Elemental Affinities. If you don't know what those are yet, don't worry about it. The chances of being born and having a Kekkai Genkai without one or both parents having one themselves is next to zero. I think the last known proven case was before the First Shinobi War." She started, wishing she'd grabbed a chair. Kekkai Genkai was one of her favorite subjects growing up, and she'd put a lot of time into researching them.

The girl nearest her stood up next, and Maki had to resist the urge to grin as the girl asked just what she wanted to be asked.

"Where did Kekkai Genkai come from then? To begin with? What changed?"

Maki saw the look in the girl's eyes, like herself when she'd started. The allure of having a power only you possessed was tantalizing. She hated to be the one to crush the girl's dreams, but at least the girl wouldn't waste as much time as she had trying to find a way.

"There aren't a lot of records from the Warring States Era, or even shortly after it ended. Everything I've learned about the source of Kekkai Genkai, I've learned from talking to the oldest living people in the Land of Wind that I could find."

It was clear she had the whole class's attention.

"It is believed that before the First Great Ninja War, the source of all Kekkai Genkai came from a mysterious artifact, a stone of some sort. This stone was guarded by a powerful religion here in the Land of Wind. Shortly after the first countries were formed, the religion's temple, where the stone was kept, was attacked by an invading country, and the stone was destroyed."

"So, new Kekkai Genkai is impossible?"

She looked over, surprised that the Sengwari had asked the question.

"I'm sorry to say that it's pretty much impossible. I've only ever heard of a few exceedingly rare cases where a new Kekkai Genkai was formed in a child from two parents with different Kekkai Genkai. However, such a thing is rare on its own, as Kekkai Genkai holders tend to avoid marrying someone with a different bloodline. More often than not, the child of those parents will die shortly after being born."

The Sengwari nodded and sat back down. She turned back toward the class and looked around, when no one stood up, she clapped her hands. Picking up her huge scroll, she slipped it on her back and turned toward Ishida.

"Thank you for having me, Ishida-sama. I must be going now."

The gruff veteran nodded, and she activated a Shunshin. Directing it out the window and toward the Shinobi HQ, she released it.

Naruto stared at the spot the Kunoichi had just been occupying for a few moments, processing everything he'd heard. He had never read, in the entirety of the Daimyo Royal Library, anything about a stone that gave Kekkai Genkai. He was doubtful such a thing even existed, but perhaps it did...

"Class is dismissed, I'm assuming you all know where the break room is. If you don't, too bad. Go have lunch, and I'll come to pick you up in thirty minutes."

—

"I'm sure you've already gotten this question a lot, but how can you see wearing that?"

Naruto lifted his head, having been eating, and "looked" at Hogari. They were the only people sitting at the table, the rest of the class sitting at tables around them. Naruto had been the first here, as he already knew where the break room was and had gotten his food first.

"Echolocation Jutsu."

Hogari nodded as he pulled a long metal needle out of his pocket. It looked similar to a senbon needle, but it was thicker on one end. Hogari started fiddling with it. Silence returned to their table as Naruto resumed eating his lunch. He wasn't sure if Hogari simply wasn't hungry or had already eaten, and he'd simply not noticed.

"What is your reason for joining the Academy?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow under his blindfold, surprised at the question.

"My father wishes for me to become a Shinobi before I am old enough to inherit his fortune."

Hogari continued to twirl the strange needle around his fingers.

"So you're a _Shintakushikin Bebii."_

Naruto set his chopsticks down, "If you mean I won't be staying in the Shinobi Force after graduating, I don't know."

Hogari's expression confused Naruto. It was like Hogari was judging him, analyzing him, weighing some decision in his mind.

"So, you are loyal to the Land of Wind?"

Naruto nodded. After all, he would become the country's Daimyo after his father retired or died.

"Good."

He waited for Hogari to elaborate, but no explanation came.

—

"Welcome, everyone. My name is Taketa, and I'll be your Basic Weapons Sensei for the next few weeks. After that, you will be moving to more advanced courses."

Ichida had brought them to a new classroom instead of his own when he'd come and picked them all up. Unlike Ichida's barren and rather lifeless room, this one was covered in racks and shelves, each holding a different and significant amount of Shinobi weaponry.

"To start, I'll be going over the different categories of Shinobi weapons and tools, and what their uses are. Then I'll let each of you hold them and get a feel for their weight. Tomorrow we'll start learning to throw a Kunai, which is the most common and more or less basic Shinobi weapon there is. It's rare to find a Shinobi who doesn't use them."

Naruto watched Taketa walk over to a nearby shelf and pick up a shuriken off its hook.

"Now, obviously, this is a shuriken," Taketa said. The entire class jumped as the shuriken hit the target at the back of the classroom. Most of them turned around to see the shuriken had landed perfectly in the bullseye.

"I didn't even see him throw it," someone whispered loudly.

"Shuriken are similar to Kunai, in that almost all Shinobi carry several if not dozens of them," Taketa said as he began walking down the middle of the room. "However, unlike Kunai, they are much easier to accidentally hurt yourself with."

_Why is he treating us like children holding our first knife?_ Naruto wondered as he watched Taketa retrieve the shuriken and walk back to the front of the room.

"When we get to practicing Shuriken, you will find throwing them much easier than Kunai though," Taketa said, setting the shuriken back on its hook. Slowly walking back across the room, he continued. "Now, most weapons are created by the Land of Iron, where the metal needed to create the special properties in Shinobi weaponry is found. Also, if you or your parents have a knife at home, don't practice throwing it or using it for training. A Shinobi weapon is not a dull knife, and you're more likely to hurt yourself than anything else."

Taketa smiled as he looked across the class, "Starting with you, you all will come up one by one and take turns holding a Kunai and then a Shuriken."

The student he'd pointed to stood up and walked around the benches.

"What's your name?"

"Bauru, Sensei."

Taketa nodded, "Bauru, take this. Get a feel for it."

Bauru took the Kunai he was offering and weighed it in his hand, and then gripped it tightly by the handle.

"Do you think you could throw it?"

Bauru nodded.

"Accurately?"

Bauru looked unsure.

Taketa smiled internally as he heard someone in the class speak up, finally cracking.

"Why can't we just learn to throw Kunai today, we all know what they are."

A kid on the left, with light brown hair, had gotten to his feet. The students around him had looks of agreement on their face as well. It was clear they were getting annoyed. _Perfect._

Smoothly slipping the Kunai out of Bauru's hand so that he wouldn't hurt himself with it, Taketa pocketed it and focused on the student who'd spoken out. Releasing killing intent, he watched as the entire class collapsed. Either to their knees or down in their chairs.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise as two students on the far right regained their posture quickly. He'd spotted them when they'd come in and had immediately been curious. They seemed to be friends, and one was obviously a Sengwari.

"Stop, please stop!"

He cut the killing intent off, and the majority of the classroom gasped in relief as they rushed to get air back in their lungs. Taketa smiled, "You will learn to throw Kunai… when I say so."

**Civilian Housing District, Sunagakure, Land of Wind, EN.**

The frustration was seriously beginning to get to her.

Hunting for a Shinobi, even when you have all the information you could want, was still hard. Not to mention dangerous. What's more, Iwata and her team had been ordered to capture a member of this strange group _alive_.

She had her doubts that it was possible, and she was about to see if she was right.

For the past couple of weeks, they had aimlessly searched around Suna for any trail. They'd found nothing, of course, and their efforts had only resulted in being detained by Suna patrols numerous times.

They'd eventually changed tactics and just started trailing civilians out late at night. To date, they'd followed over a hundred civilians around and found nothing of value.

However, last night, she'd gotten lucky. A civilian she'd been trailing, though she was pretty sure they were not significant, had passed by an apartment as someone left. Her gut had made her change targets and follow this new stranger.

A couple of minutes passed, and she'd lost track of him in a dark alleyway.

It had been the first Shinobi they'd run into that was pretending to be a civilian.

Rolling off the edge of the roof, Iwata twisted in mid-air and landed on the railing of the recessed balcony below, smoothly keeping her balance.

"We're clear for a bit, patrol just passed by," Iwata whispered into the shadows. She could barely make out Taisho's nod.

Dropping onto the balcony floor as silently as she could, Iwata moved farther into the darkness and focused on the doorway across the street below. That was where the Shinobi had exited from last night, and she was hoping they would come out again.

She really didn't want to break into the Shinobi's home. If it was a Suna Shinobi, then they couldn't easily explain their actions, and even if it wasn't a Suna Shinobi, it was still a Shinobi. Shinobi's homes were always full of traps, and if this one was rigged to blow, they could end up indirectly killing civilians.

Starting a war between Suna and Kumo wasn't on her bucket list.

_Just come out already, we don't have time for this,_ Iwata cursed. It was nearly three in the morning, which was about when she'd seen the Shinobi last night. When she'd been following him, he'd walked down the street to the north before entering an alleyway and vanishing.

Taguchi and Fujino were farther down the street, hiding as they waited. If the target went somewhere else, they would just have to do their best to catch him.

As the door creaked open, Iwata was surprised by the sudden sinking feeling she got in her stomach. For some reason, this just felt like a bad idea, but they didn't have a choice.

She had to wait until the Shinobi got farther down the street before she moved out of the shadows. It was always best to assume that every Shinobi could sense you no matter what you did, and operate on the assumption that they knew you were there.

Once the target disappeared around a corner into the alleyway, Iwata and Taisho moved onto the adjacent roof. Staying as low as they could, to avoid being picked out by a passing patrol, they jumped back across the street and dropped into the alleyway.

As she landed on the ground, Iwata took in everything quickly. Taguchi was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily, a kunai hanging limply from his hand. Fujino laying on the ground a few feet away, and she couldn't tell if he was dead or not.

In the middle of the street, slumped over on the ground, was the suspect Shinobi.

"What happened?" Taisho asked as he rushed over to Fujino and crouched down next to him.

"He didn't know we were here until we moved in, but he was fast." Taguchi panted, pushing himself off the wall and sliding the Kunai in his hand back in his pouch.

"Fujino is alive," Taisho announced as he picked his knocked out comrade up and slung him over his shoulder.

"What happened?" Iwata asked as she bound the now prisoner's hands behind his back. It wouldn't hold for very long if he was to wake up, but it was better than nothing.

"Fujino dropped in front of him as a distraction, and the guy immediately went for the kill. Drew a tanto from inside his clothes and almost took Fujino's head off. By the time I'd even gotten close, he'd already knocked Fujino out. I barely got the needle in his neck as he turned around." Taguchi said, shaking his head. "I thought Fujino was dead for sure."

"Let's get back to the Embassy and secure the prisoner before he wakes up," Iwata ordered, and Taguchi crouched down beside her as he pulled more rope out of his pouch.

—

"Only found one pair, so I hope that's enough." Taisho said as he walked into the interrogation room, "Downstairs is really a mess, we need to clean it up sometime."

Iwata ignored Taisho as she took the Chakra restraining cuffs in his hand and latched them to the prisoner's wrists. They would hopefully prevent him from using his Chakra, or at the very least, limit how much he could use. She'd heard stories about some Shinobi having enough Chakra to break the cuffs anyway.

She didn't think their new prisoner was that strong, but there was no way to be sure.

Taguchi stood up, having just finished tying the prisoner's legs to the chair. Finally satisfied he was restrained properly, Taguchi began frisking the Shinobi for weapons. He found a hidden Kunai pouch strapped to his side and a kunai hidden in his sleeve.

"Taguchi, look at that."

Looking at where Iwata was pointing, he pulled back the prisoner's shirt the rest of the way, revealing a seal made of thick black ink on his chest.

"A seal? For what?" Taguchi wondered, leaning closer as he tried to make sense of the lines and strange symbols drawn on the man's skin. Seals had always been a mystery to him.

"It's probably a suicide seal, they're usually the ones positioned over the heart," Taisho commented, and Iwata nodded in agreement.

"Do we have any sealing supplies here? I can't remove the seal, but I can nullify it, so it's useless for a while. We only need him alive for a bit anyway." Iwata said.

"I saw some downstairs, be right back," Taisho said and left.

—

It was times like these that Taguchi was thankful silence seals existed. No one outside the Kumo Embassy could hear the pained screams of the prisoner as Iwata interrogated him.

Hearing the screaming diminish, Taguchi lazily looked over toward the one-way glass to see Iwata walking toward the door. He was surprised. It had only been an hour, and this was the first time Iwata had left the interrogation room. He'd left because the screaming was giving him a headache.

"What's the scoop?" Fujino asked painfully as he pushed himself up on the couch. He'd woken up about thirty minutes ago with a splitting headache, but it seemed like he would be okay.

Iwata looked proud of herself as she pulled over a chair and sat down.

"His name is Tofu, and he's part of the organization we're after."

"What's the organization called?" Taisho asked curiously, and Iwata shrugged.

"He doesn't know."

Taguchi frowned, "Was he blackmailed or forced into it then? You've spent too much time on him if he's a dead end…"

Iwata shook her head, "No, he's definitely more than just a thug for this group. However, it seems this organization has never cared to give themselves a name. Or they've just not told Tofu what it is."

"Interesting."

Iwata nodded and continued, "I started off with why they attacked this Embassy and killed everyone inside. He didn't know why it had happened, only that the leaders of his organization had deemed it necessary. It happened before he was summoned to Suna."

Fujino groaned painfully as Iwata grinned, and laid back down on the couch.

"Fine. I'll play along and ask questions since you're fucking terrible at giving briefings." Fujino said as he stared at the ceiling, "Why was Tofu summoned to Suna?"

"He was summoned to help capture the Daimyo's son, Naruto Sakamoto, who is also known as Miyasato," Iwata said, smiling like the cat that ate the canary. Taguchi raised an eyebrow.

"The Daimyo's son is in Kazedama, though?"

Iwata shook her head, "No, the Prince is here in Suna. He traveled here secretly with the Kazekage, presumably by the Daimyo's request, to train to become a Shinobi here in Suna."

"That makes sense… I'm guessing they want to kidnap the Prince to blackmail the Daimyo with him for the stone?" Taisho said thoughtfully.

"That would be it," Iwata confirmed, "Other than that, he doesn't really know much of use. He's a missing-nin from Iwagakure and was recruited by this organization around a year ago. Since then, he has been spying on the Tsukikage until being summoned here."

"So, is this a dead end?" Taguchi asked.

"No, we have a lead now. I obviously got the location he's been going to at night out of him. Who do you think I am? A Chūnin?"

Taguchi shook his head, "That's useful, but aren't we screwed now? This organization presumably has meetings, and someone is going to notice him not showing up.

None of Iwata's teammates were happy about the grin on her face.

"I'm going to activate his seal, we'll dump his body near where we found him, and most likely, they will assume he got caught out by a Suna patrol and suicided."

"Sounds like a plan. After that, we need to inform Lord Raikage immediately, this is crucial information," Fujino said, and Taisho and Taguchi voiced their agreements.

* * *

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Hogari (Grimtruth)


	12. A Grim Truth

Temari shook her head as she turned away from the Kazekage Mansion. Following Naruto and her brother out onto the street, she carefully shut the gate behind them. Kankuro, however, was still staring through the gate at the mansion doors.

"Can you see him, Naruto?" Kankuro whispered.

Naruto shook his head.

"The Echolocation Jutsu cannot pierce through windows. If he is following us, then you would be able to see him easier than I could."

Kankuro bit his lip, studying the front of their home again for any glimpse of his little brother. While he couldn't prove that Gaara was following them to the Academy every day, he knew it was true. It would only be a matter of time before Gaara felt the urge to kill at the wrong time, and started a murderous rampage in the Academy.

"Let's get going," Temari urged, and Kankuro reluctantly turned away.

"Just… keep an eye out, will you?" Kankuro entreated. Naruto nodded.

They walked for a few minutes in silence, the streets barren of life.

"Why do you think he's acting like this?" Kankuro suddenly asked for the hundredth time in the past several weeks.

Temari groaned.

"I don't know, Kankuro, perhaps he's trying to just spend more time around his family?" She replied, clearly communicating her annoyance.

Kankuro didn't seem to notice.

"But that's not like Gaara at all." Kankuro countered before turning to Naruto, who was quietly staring off into the distance. "Didn't Gaara try to kill you like, three times?"

"Hai."

Kankuro raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "Then why do you read books in the living room with him? Aren't you afraid that he's going to try again? I don't know how he's fail-"

"Kankuro!" Temari interrupted, glaring at her younger brother.

Kankuro looked at his sister sheepishly and turned to Naruto, "I'm sorry. I promised to not bring that up again."

Naruto didn't answer.

Temari sighed internally as Kankuro finally let the matter drop. It was all Kankuro talked about now, ever since Gaara had started spending an abnormal amount of time in the mansion. Personally, it didn't really bother her. In the past, Gaara rarely spent more than five minutes at home a month, if that. It had always caused her to wonder where Gaara slept when he wasn't in his containment cell or at home.

_Though, to be honest, Gaara doesn't actually sleep, _Temari thought sadly. Every time she thought about what Gaara must be going through every day, it made her want to find him and hug him. Though, she knew he would never accept it.

So, she'd resolved to treat Gaara like anyone else, and didn't specifically try to talk to him or bother him. It worked out because he usually spent most of his time in his room, which she never entered, or sitting in the living room. Out of the three of them, Naruto spent the most time around Gaara, which she had not expected.

For the first week, she'd believed, just as much as Kankuro, that Gaara was going to attempt to kill Naruto. Rasa had reassured her that a team of Suna Elite had been stationed in the Mansion, and all could neutralize Gaara should he try something. But nothing had happened.

She hadn't expressed it openly to anyone, but she was happy that Gaara was spending time around them all, even if he rarely said anything.

As they reached the edge of the dead zone, the area around the Kazekage Mansion that civilians avoided like the plague, Temari turned to look back the way they'd come. Kankuro noticed and looked at her curiously. She shook her head.

She'd thought for a moment she sensed Gaara behind them, but that was impossible. She wasn't skilled enough to detect Gaara even if he was there.

Naruto, however, could see Gaara perfectly. He was using Gaara as practice as he kept track of the Jinchuriki, and walked through the rapidly populating streets. He'd been taking every opportunity he could find to use his Byakugan and walk at the same time for the past month, but he was still far from being able to move at a Shinobi speed while doing so.

Yet, despite being able to see Gaara following them across the rooftops, Naruto didn't say anything to Kankuro or Temari. Gaara clearly had worked out how the Echolocation Jutsu functioned and was taking care to stay out of the Jutsu's range.

Naruto was distracted by a movement in the corner of his "eye" and shifted his focus to someone else following them. It was a Kunoichi, one he'd never seen before. He was only able to follow her for a moment before she disappeared.

"Look out, Naruto," Kankuro warned, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the way of a civilian carrying two large buckets of water.

"Thank you," Naruto said as he quickly checked the street in front of him before trying to find the Kunoichi again.

She was gone.

"Were you looking for Gaara?" Kankuro asked in a whisper, looking over his shoulder as if Gaara would be standing on the street behind them.

"Yes." Naruto lied.

"Did you see him?"

Naruto shook his head.

"We're here," Temari interjected as they stepped out into the plaza in front of the Shinobi Academy. Students were pouring in from all directions, all heading toward the open front doors. Naruto lessened the range of his Byakugan drastically, taking care to keep track of all the students around him. He didn't want to trip and be trampled by his fellow students.

—

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Raidon, his second in command, asked.

Tera frowned, though it was hidden by the darkness cast by his hood. Raidon had not questioned him for nearly a decade, and the fact that the Shinobi was now... was concerning.

Deciding not to answer, Tera walked to the room's only table and sat down in the head seat. Raidon disappeared into the shadows of the room a moment later, where he would stay until called.

Snapping his fingers, he watched the tip of his index finger ignite into a small flame. Leaning forward slightly, Tera placed it against the wick of the candle. The room lit up as it caught and began wildly dancing back and forth.

There was quite a draft in the drab and empty apartment since he'd opened both of the windows half-way when he first arrived. Additionally, the door to the hallway was unlocked. He wasn't sure how his guests would decide to enter, and he didn't want to impede them.

He didn't have to wait long. His first guest was blatantly obvious in their approach as they walked down the street toward the hotel entrance. Even from several floors up, Tera could tell they were under a Henge.

It was possible this meeting was already compromised, the fool had probably walked through half of Suna under a Henge. It would be a miracle if none of the Suna Shinobi noticed him.

He briefly considered leaving now but decided against it. Tera was confident his other guests were not as stupid, and he couldn't spare another night to meet them.

However, he'd come prepared regardless. He was dressed in his usual attire of all black clothing, each barely distinguishable from the next. His only identifiable piece of clothing was the large black cloak he wore, his face obscured by the hood.

After all, it wasn't a guarantee that his guests would accept his offer, and he was already considering killing the first guest for his incompetence.

_No, I can't do that. I would lose standing with the Suna underground, and I need everyone I can get._ Tera thought in annoyance. Despite putting out a call for recruits, with the most tantalizing reward he could have possibly offered, only _three_ had answered.

Two of them he'd recognized by their reputation. The third was a mystery.

As the chakra signature of his first guest ascended the stairs and exited out onto the third floor, Tera followed them through the wall with his eyes as they approached the apartment room door.

Tera's eyes narrowed in suspicion as the signature paused at the door for a moment before they pushed it open.

"You can drop the Henge, Samuk."

The unremarkable-looking civilian who'd stepped into the room nodded as they closed the door. A second later, their form fizzled and fell away, revealing a Shinobi wearing what was once Suna Shinobi attire. However, the insignia had been ripped from the fabric, and numerous holes were patched with black cloth.

Surprisingly, Samuk himself was black, a rare occurrence in the Land of Wind. Those with darker skin were usually only found in the Land of Lightning.

"Please, sit. Two others are coming." Tera said, motioning toward one of the chairs at the round table.

Samuk nodded and walked to one of the three chairs, choosing the one to Tera's left.

Tera observed Samuk, noticing the kunai hidden in the Shinobi's sleeve as it briefly pressed against the fabric as he sat down. Tera noted the hardened look in Samuk's eyes and expression.

The man was infamous in the criminal underworld for his dedication to getting his revenge on the Kazekage. Of course, being just one man, there wasn't much Samuk was capable of doing to harm the Kazekage other than killing civilian travelers as often as possible.

Samuk had really gained his reputation when he'd managed to kill one of Suna Councils sitting elders. The feat was only added to by the fact that he was a banished Shinobi, a rare occurrence in the Elemental Nations. Most Shinobi turned traitor were now missing-nin or were immediately executed for their crimes.

Samuk was an exception.

Tera's attention was drawn to the window behind him as he sensed another signature, far more potent than Samuk's, move toward them. He didn't hear the window slide open. Knowing it creaked, he was impressed. Despite the lack of sound, he knew his newest guest was inside the room as the signature moved behind him.

Samuk didn't seem to notice them, so they were most likely under a Genjutsu.

"Welcome, Tsukasa," Tera said. The signature halted abruptly, a mere few feet away. Samuk looked up sharply, his eyes darting around the room.

Tera could tell the Genjutsu had been dropped as he heard the sound of high-heels clicking against the wooden floor. Tsukasa walked into view on his right and sat down, folding her hands on the table.

He could tell she was analyzing him, deciding whether or not to trust him.

Tsukasa was the other guest he'd known, though, like Samuk, it was only by reputation.

Tsukasa wore a bright red kimono, and the top half of her face was covered in a red, demon-like mask. Her black hair had several red high-lights in it as well. All of which contributed to her name in the underworld, the Red Demoness of the Court.

"You claimed that by joining you, I will receive a Kekkai Genkai of my own," Tsukasa said, her eyes narrowing beneath her mask. "That's quite the claim."

"We have one more coming," Tera replied, ignoring her challenge. He'd known she would be skeptical; however, she had arrived regardless. Which meant she believed there was some validity to his words.

Tera watched the window across the room closely as his third and final guest landed on the wall outside. As they climbed through the window, Tera was surprised by their strange appearance.

"Welcome, please... sit."

Like himself, this new stranger wore mostly black, although several pieces of their clothing were red. He couldn't immediately determine whether they were male or female, their clothing seemingly designed to hide their gender on purpose. The bottom half of their face was hidden behind a black mask, and the rest was obscured by their large straw hat.

"I am Otabane."

Even their voice, while deep, seemed to be genderless.

"I will begin by answering the obvious question, and yes, I can provide you each with your own, unique, Kekkai Genkai."

Tsukasa stopped tapping her red fingernails on the table, "How can you make such a claim? I saw your request, and I couldn't believe it. I spent days trying to figure out how you could even claim to do such a thing."

"The Stone of Legend," Otabane interrupted.

"Yes… that… but it was destroyed in the First Great Shinobi War by the Order of Liberty when the Land of Lightning tried to steal it." Tsukasa countered, "It's gone."

"The one that was broken by the head monk of the Order of Liberty was a fake," Tera said, causing Tsukasa to look at him sharply. "The real one was taken to Kazedama, where it came into the possession of the current Daimyō."

"You're saying that Torio Sakamoto, a war hero of the Third Great Shinobi War, has a new Kekkai Genkai?"

Tera didn't respond, he didn't need to. It was evident that the last pieces in some puzzle Tsukasa had been trying to solve were slotting into place. It seemed like she had tried to find the Stone of Legends herself in the past.

"If what you say is true." Samuk started, "how can we hope to take this stone from the Daimyō? Besides the fact that he is one of the Land of Wind's most powerful Shinobi, he's also protected by a crack team of Shinobi. Every one of them was selected for the Daimyō's guard because of their skills and power."

Samuk stared at Tera, trying to read his face under his hood. "I do not intend to die fighting Kanade of the Searing Winds just so you can have the Stone for yourself."

"I do not plan for anyone to die," Tera replied, and Tsukasa leaned forward in her chair. "The Daimyō's son, Miyasato, who goes as Naruto now, is here in Suna training to become a Shinobi."

"You wish for us to capture the prince," Otabane asserted. Tera nodded.

"Hai. Once we have captured the prince, we will use him to blackmail the Daimyō into giving us the stone."

Samuk looked uncertain, "Surely the prince will be guarded? How can you be sure that the Daimyō will give up this stone for his son? If it can really give Kekkai Genkai like you claim, then it is extremely valuable."

Tsukasa laughed, "Torio would most definitely give up the stone for his only son. I was there before Miyasato was born. Nothing matters more to him than his son. He wouldn't ever shut up about it back in my days when I was on the royal court."

"The prince is carefully guarded, which is why you three will be working with us to capture him." Tera said, "Is that a deal?"

Samuk and Otabane nodded immediately, but Tsukasa hesitated. Tera didn't move, but he was prepared to kill the Red Demoness if she tried to leave. He couldn't risk Suna becoming aware of his plans.

"I have one last concern," Tsukasa said, "I know more or less how the Stone of Legends works. To obtain a Kekkai Genkai, one has to hold the stone for a long time, I was never able to learn how long, and successfully endure its challenges. After that, it will grant the holder a Kekkai Genkai."

Tera nodded in agreement.

"How many chances do we get with the stone?"

"One."

"That is agreeable, I'm in," Tsukasa said.

** Kumo Embassy, Sunagakure, Land of Wind, EN. **

"Do you think they'll be able to get inside without being seen by the guards?"

Taguchi scoffed, "Of course they will. They're RAIKOU, and Suna isn't looking for them. They'll be here any minute."

Fujino chuckled, "They could already be in this room, and we'd never know."

"I'm concerned that they didn't arrive earlier," Iwata said from her spot on the couch. She and her three teammates were all spread out around the embassy's living quarters. Taguchi was sitting at the table, drinking coffee. Fujino was leaning against the doorway, and Taisho was laying on the other couch, looking at the ceiling.

For the past three weeks, they'd avoided suspicion as much as possible. Suna seemed to have accepted that they were the replacement Shinobi for the embassy, and hadn't given them any trouble.

Suna wasn't what she was worried about, though. They had stayed on high alert, trying to keep an eye out for any sign that the organization, whatever it was called, was aware of their missing member.

It was driving her insane.

As Taguchi had put it, they might as well relax as they waited for the RAIKOU to arrive. If the organization came knocking, they were all fucked anyway. Much better Shinobi than them hadn't stood a chance.

Thankfully, they were still alive.

She'd never admit it, but she was relieved and glad that the Raikage had ordered two RAIKOU teams to back them up. The tension was going to kill her. She'd been unable to sleep for days.

Even though she saw the black pair of boots appear in front of her on the floor, the complete lack of sound prevented the information from processing immediately.

Looking up sharply, Iwata drew a Kunai as she got to her feet. None of the eight RAIKOU reacted, and she quickly slipped the weapon back into her pouch.

Each of the Black Ops Shinobi wore solid black clothing, with light grey jackets. The RAIKOU insignia was embroidered on each of their chests.

The one closest to her took his mask off and, extending his hand toward her, she took it.

"My name is Ashito. I am in charge of this operation. We have orders from the Raikage to capture, interrogate, and eliminate a high-level member of the organization your team discovered." Ashito said. Letting go of her hand, he pulled a scroll out of his Kunai pouch and handed it to her.

"This is for you."

"Iwata Kayami," she said as she took the scroll and unfurled it.

"No way…"

* * *

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Grimtruth

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\- Samuk (Grimtruth)

\- Otabane (Grimtruth)

\- Tsukasa (Grimtruth)

\- Ashito (Shikamaru)


	13. Cold Blood

"Begin!"

Silence fell across the Academy training field.

All eyes focused on the two students within the sparring circle as the opponents sized each other carefully. Abruptly, without warning, one of them darted forward and crashed into the other's hastily prepared guard.

Naruto's superior vision showed him the contraction of every muscle, every heartbeat of the opponents. Personally, he expected Saburo to win. Shorter and lighter, he moved more quickly.

While his opponent, Maro, was undoubtedly stronger, Naruto could tell that he couldn't keep up with Saburo's speed.

"I still think Maro is going to win," Hogari said, not really talking to anyone in particular.

"I see why you think that, as all Maro needs is one good hit to end the spar. However, I have to agree with Naruto on this one. I think Sabaro is going to win," Arashi replied, causing Hogari to snort.

Arashi Umeya was a third-year Academy Student, and as of a month ago, Hogari and Naruto's classmate. Not long after they had joined the Academy, their Sensei had decided to move them both to classes that would challenge them.

Naruto had known the decision was coming since he'd figured out that the first year was little more than a test. A glorified way to weed out students that didn't have what it took to become a Shinobi. From his training with Kanade and his father, he was, at the very least, a third-year, if not higher.

"Ouch, that had to hurt," Arashi exclaimed ruefully as Saburo landed a solid hit to Maro's chest, causing the boy to stumble back a couple of feet. Maro was near the edge of the sparring circle, but he wasn't out yet. Hogari grunted.

Naruto once again tried to find a way that Maro could win, knowing that Hogari must have a reason for thinking it was possible. Over the last month, Naruto had come to respect Hogari.

They'd shared bits about their home and families, though most of what Naruto told Hogari had been lies.

_I guess that does make us friends… that's what I told Temari anyway,_ Naruto mused. The idea of having a friend was alien to Naruto, and he wasn't sure what being someone's friend meant. However, it didn't seem like Hogari cared.

"It's over," Naruto commented, seeing Maro take an unconscious step backward to avoid a round-house kick from Saburo.

Saburo used the opening to gain ground and launched himself into another kick. Maro only realized he was out of the ring when their Sensei called the end of the match.

"Huh," Hogari said, shrugging, "I thought for sure that Maro would win."

"Maro gets caught up in the fight and doesn't pay attention to his surroundings, and even if he had, Sabaro had him cornered. It was over when he backed up the first time." Arashi replied as Maro and Sabaro bowed to each other, pressing a fist against their flat palm in a gesture of respect.

"However, I'd thought perhaps that Sabaro would succeed in knocking Maro over and pinning him."

Naruto shook his head, causing Arashi to look at him curiously. "Maro is too strong, and Sabaro doesn't weigh enough to do that."

Arashi nodded thoughtfully, looking back toward the sparring circle. "You're right."

"The winner is Sabaro!" The Taijutsu Sensei, whose name was Nissho, called out. "Next up will be Naruto Edano and Hogari Sengwari. Will the opponents please come into the sparring circle for the next spar?"

"Oh, we're gonna get to see you two spar?" Arashi asked excitedly, "this will be fun."

Neither Naruto or Hogari paid attention to the sudden rise of hushed conversation as they walked into the sparring circle. They'd both sparred many times in this ring, and several more times outside of it. Naruto had realized early on that Hogari's Taijutsu was far superior to his own, which often resulted in him losing.

_I'm not going to lose this time, _Naruto thought as he stepped across the line of white sand. Hogari used a style unique to his clan, the Sengwari. After their first spar, Naruto had attempted to find information about it in the Suna Public Libraries.

His efforts were completely fruitless, as he was only able to find the style mentioned by name and nothing else.

After positioning themselves on either side, they bowed, and Naruto slipped his hands out of his sleeves.

"First person to step foot outside of the ring, concede, or be knocked unconscious, loses," Nissho called.

Naruto didn't move as Hogari crouched slightly, positioning his left leg in front of him at a slight angle. Most of his weight was on his back leg, ready to push forward and launch at Naruto. Chakra wasn't allowed in this spar, but Hogari was far stronger than he was. Like Saburo, he would have to rely on his lighter weight and, therefore, higher speed.

"Begin!" Nissho called out, and the clamor of conversation around the circle died out.

Unlike Hogari, Naruto hadn't positioned himself in a Taijutsu stance. To the ire of his Taijutsu Sensei, he didn't like the Academy's basic Taijutsu style. Naruto hadn't told Nissho that he knew how to use the Blue Diamond Taijutsu, the Taijutsu his father had taught him, not only because that would reveal his real father, but because he didn't like that one either.

Nissho had eventually given in and told him he could fight however he liked. It was evident to Naruto that Nissho expected him to fail eventually, and then finally give in and use the Academy Taijutsu.

Naruto saw Hogari shift his ankle, and was ready when Hogari darted forward, kicking off his right foot.

Watching Hogari's fist rapidly draw closer, Naruto tilted to the side, narrowly avoiding it.

As Hogari flew past, Naruto brought his hand up and jabbed at a point in Hogari's neck that would slow his ability to use his right arm. Naruto wasn't skilled enough to immobilize it completely without chakra, but it would undoubtedly slow Hogari down.

Hogari, however, saw the strike coming and spun out of the way. Catching himself with his hands in a push-up, Hogari thrust off the ground and out of range as Naruto attempted to kick him in the stomach. Roughly landing on his feet, Hogari blocked Naruto's fist and bent his hand around to grab Naruto's wrist.

Reversing his stance, Hogari positioned his leg between Naruto's and kicked out his feet. Leaning backward, Hogari yanked Naruto toward him and thrust his knee into Naruto's stomach.

Instead of fighting, Naruto jumped into Hogari's attack and used his free hand to push off of Hogari's knee. Twisting in mid-air, he broke Hogari's hold on his wrist and flipped.

He landed on the ground and immediately rolled to avoid a round-house kick to the side of his head.

Getting to his feet, Naruto brought up both arms and blocked another kick. The force behind it caused him to skid across the ground, and Naruto badly wanted to rub his forearms.

Without turning to look, Naruto could see that he was barely a foot from the white line and carefully began moving back toward the center.

"You have to work on that, Naruto. One of these days, I'm going to kick you, and you'll stop outside of the ring." Hogari said, allowing Naruto to move farther into the ring as he positioned himself defensively

Naruto didn't respond, but Hogari was right. Physical strength was his worst field, and he didn't seem to be improving despite the rigorous training exercises. There wasn't much he could do besides attempt to gain a significant amount of weight, which he wasn't keen on, or use chakra.

Chakra, however, wasn't allowed in a strictly Taijutsu spar.

Attempting to take Hogari by surprise, Naruto darted forward and feigned a strike toward Hogari's head. As Hogari moved to the side to avoid the attack, Naruto shifted targets and attempted to kick Hogari in the knee. From his observations, Hogari's left knee was one of the defensive stance's only weaknesses. It would hopefully throw Hogari off balance.

However, Naruto's plan fell apart as Hogari successfully evaded both strikes. Now off balance, having been expecting to use Hogari as a springboard to jump away, Naruto was unable to avoid Hogari's counter-attack.

Even though he could clearly see it coming, Naruto was helpless as Hogari's fist collided against the side of his head. His Byakugan went dark as ears rang loudly, and Naruto stumbled several feet before collapsing, completely blind.

He pressed his hand to the side of his head, trying to lessen the pain, and felt something wet on his palm.

_Am I bleeding?_

Naruto's confusion was interrupted by a pain-filled scream right in front of him. Forcing chakra into his eyes, his Byakugan flared to life, and the world came back into view.

Less than a dozen feet away, clutching his bleeding fist was Hogari, trying desperately to stop the blood dripping from his fingers. Without thinking about it, Naruto watched as his Byakugan honed in on Hogari's fist, peering through the blood to see the wound. Hogari had punctured the skin between his knuckles.

_He hit them... no... no no no NO!_

Naruto frantically got to his feet and ran. Tightly clenching his eyes closed, Naruto tried to block out the terror and fear drowning him. _I'll be revealed, everyone will know! THEY CAN NOT KNOW, NO ONE CAN, IT WILL DOOM ME!_

Naruto froze as suddenly everything stopped. Feeling something crack beneath his fingers, he forced himself to open his eyes.

Hogari's glassy eyes stared at him, unmoving. Naruto could instantly tell he wasn't breathing. He watched Hogari's hands, which had been gripping his arm, let go and fall to his sides. Naruto heard a roar of triumph in his ears as Hogari collapsed, Naruto having recoiled in shock and letting go.

"He's dead?!" Someone screamed, "Naruto killed Hogari!"

Naruto could tell someone was running toward him, but he couldn't turn and look at them. His Byakugan was locked on Hogari, almost like he expected him to move... to get up and congratulate him for winning the spar.

"All of you! Back the fuck up!" Nissho roared. Naruto distractedly wondered why he sounded like he was hundreds of miles away.

_Shouldn't he be right here to help with this?_ Naruto thought, _I must be wrong... this is just another nightmare._

—

Gaara casually watched the orange-haired Kunoichi dart across the rooftops before turning back to the scene playing out below. It was obvious her destination was the Kazekage tower.

His emotionless visage never changed as he saw Naruto stumble away from his classmates, trying to get away from them as they pursued him. He'd witnessed the entire spar, and while he wasn't sure why Naruto had chosen to kill the boy, he also didn't care.

What Gaara was fascinated by was _how_ Naruto had killed the student. It looked like Naruto had crushed the Sengwari's throat, but he knew that such a thing didn't kill someone instantly. The boy had been dead before he'd hit the ground.

Looking back at the sparring circle, Gaara noted the lack of blood that should have been spewing out of the dead boy's throat as medic-nin picked him up.

No... Naruto had done something else.

—

As soon as Naruto stepped into his office, Rasa could tell something was wrong. He, of course, couldn't see Naruto's eyes beneath his blindfold, but Naruto's body posture, the way the prince moved, concerned him.

He'd seen hundreds of children immediately after they'd killed the first time, and all of them had been affected by it in some way.

Naruto was just standing there, his posture as rigid and perfect as it had been when Rasa had first met him. There was nothing in his body language that showed even a hint of sadness, remorse, or even shock over the fact that he'd just killed his classmate.

Hearing the doors open, Rasa pulled himself away and turned toward Baki, who was closing the office doors behind him.

"The body has been moved out of the Academy, and a message has been sent to the Sengwari Clan," Baki reported as he walked up to the desk.

Rasa rubbed his face, "so the boy is dead then."

Baki nodded his attention on Naruto, he expected the prince to react in some way, but Naruto didn't move. It was like the boy hadn't even heard him.

"How did he die?" Rasa asked.

Baki shrugged, "It looked like a crushed windpipe to me… Nissho said he didn't think it was that, though…"

Rasa saw the hand sign Baki formed against his own head with his hand, disguising it as merely scratching his head. Realizing that Baki felt they should continue this conversation without Naruto present, he let it drop.

Sighing, he turned to Naruto, who had yet to move or say anything since being escorted to his office. It reminded him of Gaara.

"Naruto, I'm removing you from the Academy," Rasa stated, his tone making it clear he wouldn't be changing his mind.

While the Sengwari's death was unnecessary, it wasn't unprecedented. Students had been killing each other in the Academy for as long as it had existed. The Sengwari Clan might complain about Hogari's death, but it was unlikely, and they wouldn't get very far.

When joining the Academy, every student had signed a waiver, showing that they understood that they could die at any time and that Suna could not be held responsible for their death.

"Does that mean this is the end of my training in Sunagakure?" Naruto asked.

Rasa was both relieved and surprised to hear the thickness in Naruto's voice. It meant that Hogari's death had affected Naruto... _I shouldn't have thought of him as being Gaara,_ Rasa realized, annoyed at himself for jumping to conclusions.

"No, you will be trained personally by Baki from now on."

Rasa saw Baki glance at him in surprise, but he waved it away.

"I understand."

A moment of silence passed.

"Why did you kill Hogari, Naruto?"

Rasa saw Naruto lift his hand toward his face before hesitating and letting it fall back down to his side.

"I don't know…" Naruto murmured, "I can't remember."

Rasa leaned back in his chair, relieved to see that Naruto was, in fact, in shock.

"You can go home now, Naruto."

Naruto bowed deeply before turning and leaving. Rasa and Baki waited until they sensed Naruto exiting the tower before speaking again. Rasa wasn't sure if he could trust Naruto to not spy on them.

"What did Pakura report?" Baki asked curiously, and Rasa chuckled dryly as he got up from his desk. Walking around it to the west window, Rasa peered out and spotted Naruto on the street below as he walked through the crowd.

"She said that Hogari punched Naruto in the side of the head during a spar, and somehow his hand started to bleed," Rasa said, sighing. "She was understandably confused, but I told her not to look into it."

Baki nodded, "She'll respect that. I'm guessing Hogari hit one of the horn-looking protrusions on the side of his head that you told me about?"

"That would be my guess. However, when I saw them on the trip back from Kazedama, they were too small to puncture one's fist on."

Baki rubbed his face in disbelief, "So they're continuing to grow then? I can't help but imagine the Daimyo was aware of them, which was why he had Naruto grow out his hair so long."

"I agree, but Torio never mentioned them to me. "

"Why would he do that?" Baki wondered aloud. Giving up, he changed the topic. "You want me to be Naruto's personal Sensei? For how long?"

"Until I figure out a better solution."

Baki chuckled and slapped his knees before getting to his feet. "So forever, then?"

Rasa heard the door's of his office shut as Baki left. Naruto was now out of sight, but he could still faintly sense the prince, who was just now reaching his mansion.

—

Placing his hand against the giant, elegantly carved wooden door, Naruto sighed.

_I killed him… but why did I kill him? _He realized he expected something to happen, but nothing did.

Flowing chakra through his palm, Naruto unlocked the door and pushed it open. He absentmindedly heard it click shut behind him. _It was necessary... but why?_

Reaching up to his face, Naruto slipped off his blindfold and deactivated his Byakugan. There was no one else in the mansion. Temari and Kankuro were still in the Academy and would be for another couple hours.

Ascending the stairs to the second floor, Naruto made his way to his room and collapsed down on his bed, relieved to finally be able to sleep.

* * *

6 to 12 more chapters are **always available** or in development over at our discord.

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Hogari (Grimtruth)


	14. Bodyguard?

Iwata considered it understandable that she hadn't expected a desert to be _cold_, but nonetheless, it was. She should have expected it and brought a coat or something, but she hadn't, and now she was beginning to lose feeling in her arms.

Her fingers were long gone. She'd lost feeling in them when she was climbing down the side of the walls an hour ago.

Rubbing her shoulders, she tried, unsuccessfully, to create any warmth she could.

Finally reaching the top of the sand dune, she sprinted off the edge and fell a couple dozen feet before hitting and rolling across the sand.

Shaking out her hair, she groaned in annoyance as she realized there was now sand in her Jounin jacket.

Giving up once again in the war against the sand, she resumed her sprint across the dark desert surface, straining her eyes to see anything that wasn't smooth sand ahead of her.

Her destination was the barely visible Tsukinomiyako Mountain Range, where, according to Ashito, resided a hidden camp of Kumo Shinobi. She had a hard time believing it, but here she was regardless, risking her life to go to it.

It had been excruciatingly painful to make it out of Suna without being detected… she hoped. Iwata wasn't entirely sure that none of the guards had seen her, and that there wasn't a team of Suna Elite following her.

_If there is, it's too late now, and all I can do is hope I make it to the camp, _Iwata mused, once again rubbing her aching fingers.

Because of the seals covering the outer wall of Suna, she'd been forced to slowly make her way down the side without chakra. She'd thought the hardest part would be making it on top of the wall, but that wasn't the case.

Ashito had pointed out to her several abandoned staircases that led to the top of the wall, and she'd taken the closest one. Despite fearing that the ceiling was going to collapse on her, the seemingly infinite spiders, and cracked stairs, she'd made it to the top without much trouble.

_I wonder how the RAIKOU made it into Suna, _Iwata mused, _because climbing that wall without chakra, and without making any noises is surely impossible_.

Rubbing her hands together, Iwata wished yet again that she'd been born with a natural affinity to fire. The cold was killing her.

Several hours of blithering cold slowly drug by, and Iwata finally began to reach the mountains. The sand had smoothed out not long ago, and she'd thankfully been able to pick up speed.

Locating the small, nearly invisible trail up into the mountains took her longer than she would have liked.

As she made her way along the winding trail, she was tempted multiple times to create a simple illumination Jutsu but resisted the urge. She wasn't concerned that Suna would spot the light, but that a Kumo Guard would. She didn't want a Kunai in her throat and a useless apology.

Groaning in frustration as she yet again was forced to backtrack, she found where she'd left the path and resumed following it. It was incredibly hard to see the way in the dark, as it was little more than beaten down dirt.

Despite hearing and sensing nothing, Iwata froze.

Slowly... carefully... she reached down to her Kunai pouch and grabbed the handle of one of her many Kunai.

"Identify yourself."

Iwata stopped, trying to locate the source of the voice.

"If you draw that Kunai, I will kill you."

Iwata let go of the handle, letting it fall back into her pouch. She couldn't see them, but whoever had spoken was right behind her.

"My name is Iwata Kayami…" she said, being careful not to move. "I'm the Captain of Squad Dorai, from Suna."

She winced as lightning cracked to life next to her face. By the time her eyes had begun to adjust to the bright light, it was extinguished.

She forced chakra into her eyes, helping them adjust to the darkness quickly. However, she still was unable to see anyone, and she wasn't willing to turn her head and risk death.

"Very well, come with me, Captain."

A RAIKOU member appeared in front of her, seemingly stepping out of the shadows. Like all RAIKOU, they wore complete black, their grey mask with various lightning designs being their only unique feature.

They walked in silence for several minutes, and Iwata was glad she now had a guide as the RAIKOU took several winding turns that she would have missed.

Eventually, they came to a stop, and the Shinobi moved to the side, gesturing to the entrance of a small ravine.

"I must return to my post, but you're free to go."

She thanked him and stepped inside the small and dark ravine, taking care to watch the uneven ground to avoid tripping.

Iwata knew that the RAIKOU was lying and that they were following her from the shadows. Why? Because letting her enter by herself would be a breach of security. A RAIKOU would never allow that to happen.

No, what probably was happening was that she was being followed by a squad of RAIKOU.

RAIKOU, who wouldn't hesitate to kill her, should she not be who she said she was.

After fumbling around in the dark, Iwata eventually made it out of the ravine.

She was shocked by the scale of the camp, lit by lanterns hung from the tents, and numerous campfires. _There has to be at least a hundred tents here… and with four men to a tent..._

It was clear the Raikage was serious.

Moving such a massive force across the Elemental Nations and into the Land of Wind was no small or easy task. What made it even more impressive was that she'd only sent the report to Kumo a month before.

Looking toward the middle of the encampment, Iwata instantly spotted the command tent. She'd been in Kumo war camps before, and they were all organized the same.

At the center was the command tent, surrounded by the tents belonging to the strongest Shinobi, and RAIKOU. After that, a ring of medic tents, followed by regular tents which housed most of the Shinobi.

Making her way down the path into camp, Iwata expected to be stopped by guards, but nothing happened.

However, she was stopped as she stepped into the clearing around the command tent.

"State your name, rank, and purpose for approaching the command tent."

A RAIKOU had appeared out of seemingly thin air in front of her.

"Iwata Kayami, Jounin. I am the Captain of Squad Dorai, assigned to the Kumo Embassy in Suna," she responded quickly.

The RAIKOU didn't reply; instead, they just stood there, silently staring at her through their mask.

A minute passed before the RAIKOU moved, stepping to the side and gesturing for her to enter the tent.

Walking up to the tent, she pushed the large tent flap to the side and stepped inside. The first thing she noticed was the massive table in the middle. It was covered with a large map of the Land of Wind, and several small figures were clumped together in the mountains. She was surprised to see that only three were in Suna.

"Ahh, Iwata-san."

Pulling herself away from the table, Iwata turned toward the voice to find Darui sitting on a bed off to the side.

Setting down the scroll he was holding, Darui got up and walked to the table. She matched him.

Iwata had been surprised when Ashito had informed her that Darui, the Raikage's second hand, was in charge of the operation.

It made sense, but the implications of it were daunting. With Darui being here, it meant that the Raikage had no qualms about starting a war with the Land of Wind.

"I must first thank you for your efforts in obtaining the information about the Stone of Legend. The Raikage wanted me to tell you personally that he's thankful."

Iwata bowed deeply, doing her best to keep her expression calm.

"He wants you to know that he is aware of the risks you and your team took to obtain this valuable information." Darui continued.

"Thank you, Darui-sama," Iwata replied. It was a rare honor for the Raikage to personally recognize the efforts of his Shinobi, let alone a Jounin like herself, who wasn't that high in the ranks in the grand scheme of things.

"Now, how can I help you?" Darui asked curiously.

"I'm here to request permission to begin searching for the Land of Wind Daimyō's son within Suna." Iwata began, "I will need another team assigned to our Embassy in Suna, to keep it staffed should Suna come knocking for any reason. "

"I see," Darui replied thoughtfully, turning toward the small figures on the map. Iwata recognized two of them as belonging to RAIKOU squads, and the other as her own Squad's emblem.

"Are you confident that you can find the Prince without alerting Suna to our intentions?" Darui asked, abruptly losing his friendly persona.

"Hai, Darui-sama."

"We've taken great pains to make sure that the Land of Wind is unaware of our presence here… it was perilous for you to even come here."

Iwata nodded silently, suddenly understanding she was on thin ice. The silence dragged on for several minutes as Darui stared at the map, clearly deep in thought. Iwata began to regret coming to the camp more with every passing second.

"I will allow it."

Iwata felt herself deflate in relief. If Darui had said no, it would have made the risks she'd taken by coming here not worth it.

"However, you must return to Suna, tonight," Darui ordered, turning away from the map. "I will have Squad Nai meet you tomorrow at the Embassy if they can get through the front gate as civilians. However, if they don't arrive, you are not to look for the Prince."

Iwata bowed deeply, "Thank you, Darui-sama."

"I hope you understand how much you've endangered this entire operation, and won't make such a mistake again," Darui said, his back turned to her. "Now go."

Iwata bowed again, though Darui couldn't see her, and turned around quickly before hurrying out of the command tent.

**Maru Plaza, Sunagakure, Land of Wind, EN.**

"May I interest you in a fruit cake, Josei-san?"

Iwata shook her head and politely declined.

"I'm just looking," she said with a smile. The shopkeeper nodded and turned toward a small child, who was eyeing the various candies in his stand.

Taking advantage of the distractions, Iwata looked over her shoulder at the large plaza behind her. On the other side was the Shinobi Academy, and it would be opening soon. She wasn't sure exactly when which was why she and Squad Nai had arrived early.

They were all disguised as civilians, and for the last few hours, had aimlessly wandered around the various shops scattered along the edge of the Plaza. Unsurprisingly, she'd found that most of what was being sold was for children. She'd guessed it was for the students that came out on their breaks and bought things.

"Can I interest you in some pocky sticks? These are from the Land of Rice, still good." The old shopkeeper said, pointing at a small box of the candies on his counter.

Iwata politely shook her head, resisting the urge to smile at the man's open and sunny expression. He was doing his best, but she knew something like pocky sticks couldn't be imported. They'd never survived the heat through the desert.

No, the old man had made these himself, probably this morning, and was trying to make them seem extraordinary.

An admirable attempt.

"No thank you, Kyaku-sama."

Iwata could tell that the shopkeeper was beginning to get frustrated with her presence. She was, after all, blocking part of the stand from potential customers.

She'd just started to look over the candies, feeling her sweet tooth begging her for some sustenance, when she heard a loud clamor behind her.

Turning around, she saw numerous children, ranging from very young to early Genin ages, pour into the plaza. All of them were heading for the Academy, whose doors had just opened to welcome them all inside.

Iwata regretted choosing to move a few minutes ago to the candy stand, as she now couldn't see the majority of the children as they walked by. All she could do was hope that Hirohisa had better luck than her. She'd seen him walking toward the stands near the Academy entrance earlier.

Giving up, Iwata turned back to the candy stand and picked up one of the blue suckers that had caught her eyes. The shopkeeper accepted the coins she handed him, and she popped the sucker in her mouth before walking out onto the plaza.

The last of the students were just entering the Academy, and as the last one stepped inside, she saw one of the teachers reach out and close the doors.

Turning toward one of the several outdoor table restaurants around the area, Iwata walked up to the first available table and sat down. She chose the chair that gave her a clear view of the entire plaza and waited for her teammates to arrive.

Eichiro, the Captain of Squad Nai, was the first to arrive, and after asking permission to sit, took one of the seats to her left. He was shortly followed by Shigeko, and then Arata.

As they were quietly waiting for Hirohisa to arrive, the waiter came up and took their drink orders. They all got water.

"Finally," Shigeko grumbled as Hirohisa walked up to the table, grabbing a chair from an empty table along the way, and sat down.

"Given that you're smiling," Eichiro said, clearly annoyed, "I'm guessing you have good news?"

Hirohisa's smile increased.

"Nope."

Iwata sighed.

"Are you serious?" Shigeko groaned, "We've been here for three hours, and it was all pointless?"

Hirohisa shrugged and turned to the waiter as he walked up to the table, carrying everyone's drinks.

"What can I get you, Sir?"

"A tea, please," Hirohisa replied, and the waiter nodded before turning and leaving. Once the waiter was out of earshot, Hirohisa continued his report. "None of the children matched the description you gave me, Iwata-chan. I'm confident that the prince didn't slip by me.

Iwata rubbed her face before leaning forward in her chair and picking up her drink. After taking a quick sip, she set it down.

"Well… I say we all eat, and then begin searching as many public training grounds as we can for the prince." Iwata said, and Arata agreed. "He came to Suna to become a Shinobi, so if he isn't here at the Academy, it seems like the best place to search."

Iwata looked at Eichiro questioningly, noticing the Captain's doubtful expression.

"It's probable that he's being trained at a private training ground, which would be risky to get too close to," Eichiro explained.

Iwata grimaced, he was right.

"We're just going to have to hope that isn't the case," Hirohisa said optimistically as he leaned back in his chair, attempting to peer around Iwata's head in search of the waiter. He was hungry, damnit.

—

She hated missions that required her to pretend to be a civilian, she just hated it.

Her first complaint would have to be the speed, as it took for-fucking-ever to get anywhere. In the last three hours, she'd only been able to search three training grounds and found nothing!

_Hopefully, someone has had more luck than I have, _Iwata thought, finally giving up and turning around. She wouldn't have enough time to check the next training ground and make it back to the meeting point in time.

Hurrying to the other side of the street, Iwata joined the civilians walking in the same direction as her. Like many cities she'd seen in her life, Suna had vast roads. This allowed carts and buggies to be pulled through the middle of the street, without interrupting foot traffic.

Mostly such design improvements were thought of by civilians. Shinobi just jumped over the roofs. It was much faster, and something Iwata badly wanted to do.

Alas, she was restricted to merely walking… and not even at a quick pace, for fear of drawing unwanted attention to herself.

The meeting point was Suna's only park, and as she drew nearer, she was surprised to see as much green as she did. From above, she suspected the place probably stood out like fresh blood in water.

Crossing the street once again, Iwata entered through the open gates into the park and was relieved to see a complete lack of sand. She was so tired of it.

There were numerous paths throughout the park, weaving between the trees, bushes, and vibrant grass. Choosing the one on the far right, Iwata let herself relax slightly and take in the beauty of the flowers spread out around her.

She smiled at a young couple as she passed by, and the girl waved in return.

Reaching her destination, Iwata sat down on one of the many benches and waited for her teammates to arrive. She'd chosen one of the spots shaded by several trees and was relieved as a cool breeze blew through her hair.

To sell the civilian look as much as possible, she'd let her hair loose, something she rarely did. Hair was nice, but it got in the way in a fight. Iwata had never understood Kunoichi who didn't put their hair up, seemed like asking for death in her opinion.

Sensing someone walking up being her, she calmly looked over her shoulder to see Hirohisa walking toward her. She felt like groaning as she saw the smile on his face, now unsure if it meant he had good news or bad.

Walking around the bench, Hirohisa sat down and sighed in relief, finally out of the searing heat of the sun.

"Any luck?"

Hirohisa nodded, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the cool breeze.

"He's at a secluded training field to the west, training with a Jounin. I didn't recognize the Jounin, but there didn't seem to be any guards that I could tell." Hirohisa said.

Iwata cursed under her breath. That was the complete opposite direction from the training fields she'd searched.

"We'll wait for the others to arrive, and then head there."

Hirohisa nodded lazily.

Iwata rolled her eyes and turned away. She'd honestly hadn't expected to find the prince after the failure at the Academy. The Shinobi she'd interrogated from the strange organization had told her he was going to the Academy.

_Perhaps he was pulled out of it… for private training? But then why was he ever in the Academy to begin with? What changed?_ Iwata wondered. She felt like something was missing, something that was dangerous.

She resolved to make sure they were careful when approaching the prince.

After a few minutes, the rest of Squad Nai arrived, and after filling them in, they set out for the training field Hirohisa had found.

Iwata realized they should have traveled individually only after they'd stopped, but it was too late by that point. She would just have to hope that no one had thought anything of it.

"See those windows up there?" Hirohisa said, pointing toward a strange building to the right of the street. "We need to climb up into there to be able to see into the training field. If we go any farther than this, we risk being detected."

"How did you figure that out?" Shigeko asked as he shaded his eyes.

"Well, we both know your incapable of being stealthy, Shigeko, so I thought I better find a way where you wouldn't need to be," Hirohisa replied and promptly leaped up onto the building before Shigeko could respond.

Iwata almost called out a warning when Hirohisa jumped again and grabbed the edge of the window before hauling himself inside. Looking at Eichiro in concern, she realized he was already preparing to jump.

A second later, she was the only one on the street.

Sighing, she looked up and was once again struck by the strangeness of Suna's buildings. The structure was typical enough, to begin with, basically being a box of sandstone with various windows and a door. After that, the building became a ball with windows around the outer edge.

Shaking her head, Iwata tried to sense any Shinobi nearby. Once she was satisfied, she lightly leaped up onto the building and quickly jumped again.

Pulling herself through the window, Iwata forced chakra into her eyes to adjust them to the sudden darkness of the room.

"Over here," Hirohisa whispered loudly, gesturing to her from across the room.

"What took you so long?" He asked as she hurried over. Iwata ignored him.

Looking through the window, Iwata saw a training field, hidden by a high wall, which had a young boy in the middle of it.

_Pale skin, brown hair, a blindfold…that's him alright, _Iwata thought. She'd thought the Shinobi had been lying when he'd told her about the blindfold, but apparently not. It seemed the prince was genuinely blind, after all.

"Is that him?" Arata asked, and Iwata nodded.

"Hai."

Looking away from the prince, Iwata focused her attention on the Shinobi standing next to the prince. _That's Baki… shit._

"Well, do we risk nabbing him and potentially avoiding an entire war?" Shigeko asked.

Iwata shook her head, "No, that Shinobi is Baki, the Kazekage's second-in-command. We might be able to take him, but we would definitely have a fight on our hands. It wouldn't be quiet."

Eichiro scoffed in annoyance, "at least that confirms it… it's definitely the prince. He's obviously getting special training."

"Distraction then?" Hirohisa suggested, "Some of us pressure the Shinobi long enough for one of us to grab the prince and neutralize him before we all run for it."

Eichiro resisted the urge to hit Hirohisa in the head, but just barely.

"No, you idiot. Darui-sama isn't ready to hold off the inevitable retaliation from Suna… it's also way too obvious. If we don't kill the Kazekage's right hand, then the Kazekage will most certainly be alerted." Eichiro said as loudly as he dared, "and if we did somehow manage to kill him quietly, then we risk a very enraged Kazekage."

"I mean, if you want to needlessly sacrifice yourself, go ahead." Arata added, "but I don't really feel like dying to Suna's Jinchuriki."

Iwata agreed. If they were to kidnap the prince here and now, the One-tail Jinchuriki would most certainly be sent after them. Killer B was in Kumo, so they wouldn't have a Jinchuriki to counter Suna's.

"I say we just watch and follow the prince once he leaves. Tail him for the next couple weeks, and work out his patterns. When Darui-sama is ready to move, it will make capturing him much easier." Iwata said, and when none of her teammates voiced a disagreement, she moved away from the window.

Iwata froze, her brain unable to process what she was in front of her for a split second. Several thick tendrils of sand were lazily floating through the air, all of them headed for her and her teammates.

Ducking under one of the tendrils as it suddenly darted toward her head, Iwata used chakra to gain enough traction to kick off the floor. She hardly heard the wooden floorboards crack beneath her.

Twisting in mid-air, Iwata saw the tendrils continue their path and impale each member of Squad Nai through the head in rapid succession. None of them had even turned around.

Then she flew through the window, narrowly missing the frame, and began plummeting toward the ground. Once more twisting around in mid-air, she collided with the next building and quickly flowed chakra through her feet and hands.

Once she'd secured herself on the wall, Iwata looked back and was shocked to see a large volume of sand slowly undulating up the side of the building. It had crept up, and none of them had noticed it.

Iwata could only watch in morbid fascination as the sand reversed course and began to fall back toward the ground. As it flowed out of the windows, it pulled the limp bodies of Squad Nai after it and dropped them to the street below.

As soon as all the bodies landed, the street seemed to open up and swallow them.

Iwata stared at the spot for several seconds. If she hadn't seen it happen, she would be completely unable to tell that anything had happened. The sand had repaired the street behind it, and now her teammates were dozens of feet underground.

Suddenly coming to her sense, Iwata turned back toward the wall and quickly climbed up it. Fearfully keeping an eye out for more sand, she sprinted across the roof, throwing caution to the wind.

She had no intention of becoming the next victim.

**Kazekage Tower, Sunagakure, Land of Wind, EN.**

Tap… Tap… Tap… Tap tap tap… Tap… Tap… Tap...

Realizing he was going to damage his ornate chopsticks, Rasa forced himself to set them back in their beautiful case. They had been a gift from Torio shortly after he'd taken up the role of Kazekage and were made of extremely expensive jade.

The chopsticks were indeed works of art, each decorated with beautiful designs made of gold.

Rasa sighed and leaned back in his chair before quickly finding himself staring at the barren ceiling of his office. Taking a deep breath, he calmed the raging storm of thoughts in his mind.

The first thing he needed to address was his growing suspicion that Naruto's real father wasn't a Hyuga. _Which leaves the question open of who Naruto's real father is… because it most certainly isn't Torio… if it was, Torio wouldn't have lied about it._

Rasa shook his head and leaned forward in his chair, folding his hands in front of him on the desk. _I don't even think that Naruto is Yura's son either… _Rasa mused, _did Torio adopt Naruto? But from where? _

"That doesn't even make any sense…" Rasa muttered, "why would Torio lie to me about that? What does he gain from doing that?"

Getting to his feet, Rasa began to pace his office.

_I can understand lying to other people about Naruto's real origin, but why would he lie to me? If I accept that Torio did adopt Naruto, did he do it because Naruto has the Byakugan?_

Rubbing his forehead, Rasa realized he'd forgotten about a vital piece entirely.

_How did Naruto get the Byakugan to begin with? _Rasa wondered, realizing he wasn't getting anywhere. The pieces he had didn't fit together, which meant there were pieces he didn't have. Such as why Naruto's skin was so pale, an extreme rarity in the Land of Wind.

_It's more feasible if Naruto is from the Land of Fire, _Rasa thought, but immediately was at a loss again. How could Torio have adopted Naruto from the Land of Fire, especially since Naruto had the Byakugan, which meant the Hyuga would have been aware of him. _Or hell-bent on killing him… I can't imagine that Naruto is a part of the Hyuga clan._

"Perhaps the group that has been attacking Torio was hired by the Hyuga?" Rasa wondered aloud but shook his head as he continued pacing his office. The Byakugan was one of the Land of Fire's most powerful Kekkai Genkai, and if the Hyuga knew that Naruto had it, they'd most certainly go to the Hokage.

As far as Rasa knew, he was on good terms with Minato.

Sighing, Rasa walked back to his desk and sat down.

Something else had been bothering him as well, and he hadn't been able to investigate it because of the sudden concerning rumors.

Naruto's strange and erratic behavior, he'd noticed it in his spar with Naruto during the prince's birthday, but he hadn't thought much of it. However, he'd seen it again when Gaara had killed the bandit camp in the mountains. _It felt like rage… I thought it was Naruto's anger at Gaara for trying to kill him at the time… but I don't think that's what it was._

The most glaring example had been right after Gaara had driven a spear through Naruto's side.

It was like Naruto had become possessed by a demon as he tried to violently attack anyone near him. Rasa had been forced to knock him out for his own safety.

_Yet, at times, Naruto can be extremely cold,_ Rasa thought. When Naruto had come to his office after killing one of his classmates, Rasa had thought Naruto's lack of emotions had been Naruto in shock. Now he wasn't so sure.

_I'm going to have to confront Torio about this,_ Rasa realized as he finally gave up.

Picking up one of the reports on his desk, he started to read it. It was a report from the Captain of Gaara's protection detail. The Captain only sent him reports when there was something worth reporting, it was just how the man was.

Baki wasn't a fan of that, but Rasa personally preferred it. He didn't like reading reports about Gaara killing dozens of civilians at a time.

Quickly reading through the report, Rasa was surprised by its contents.

Gaara hadn't killed any civilians or even shown interest in doing so for well over three weeks. Instead, Gaara had followed Naruto around everywhere he went, but instead of trying to get close to Naruto, he would only follow him from a distance.

The report also stated that Gaara was spending an abnormal amount of time in the Kazekage Mansion.

Marking the report as read, Rasa set it aside and once more folded his hands in front of him. He wasn't sure what had caused Gaara's sudden change in behavior, but he wasn't going to question it. This was what Torio had wanted, and it seemed that by luck, it had been accomplished.

Rasa didn't have any doubt that his actions had done little to nothing to bring Torio's request about. When his friend had asked for Gaara to become Naruto's personal bodyguard, he'd immediately expressed how unlikely that was to come about.

_After Gaara's multiple attempts to kill Naruto so soon after meeting him, I was sure it was pointless, but I went with my plan in Nekokami anyway… _Rasa mused.

A second later, the office was empty.

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	15. Lost Memories

Naruto was beginning to think that this was all pointless.

He could see it all. Every movement, every angle, every hand seal in perfect clarity.

He just couldn't move fast enough. His new personal Sensei, Baki, was about to strike on his left side, though he would do a feint to the right first.

Naruto could see it clearly and therefore was able to raise his guard on the left to block Baki's arm.

The force behind the blow was too much, and he went skidding across the ground, struggling to keep his footing. He groaned at the intense pain in his arms.

Dodging was out of the question, he just wasn't fast enough.

Hastily raising his arms, Naruto blocked another blow, and once more went sliding across the ground. He was little more than a punching bag for his Sensei now.

He hadn't even skidded to a stop this time when Baki appeared in front of him. His guard finally broke, and Baki's punch landed squarely on Naruto's chest.

All of the air in his lungs raced to escape. Whatever was left by the time he hit the ground was abruptly expelled.

"That was better," Baki said.

Naruto barely heard his Sensei as he fought to breathe, but he was watching Baki. His Sensei wasn't above attacking him while he was down. The spar hadn't stopped.

"It was not better, Sensei," Naruto returned once he was able to speak. "I've improved in my ability to use the Byakugan, but I'm not getting stronger… I'm not getting any faster."

Baki nodded slowly, thinking over Naruto's words as his student got to his feet.

"If I could use Chakra in these spars, I would be able to improve," Naruto continued, and immediately knew he'd misspoken.

"Many Shinobi have said that before, and those Shinobi are dead now, Naruto!" Baki said sharply, "Chakra is a tool of the Shinobi, a useful tool, but still a tool. You _must_ train yourself to be able to fight without it. When it comes down to it, that's what really matters."

"I don't understand."

"The majority of Shinobi have never bothered to train without chakra, to enhance their body at its most basic level," Baki explained, clearly switching into lecture mode. "Because of this, many have found ways to prevent Shinobi from using their Chakra, if only temporarily. It's enough, though."

"How is that possible?" Naruto asked curiously.

"The most common way is Chakra Restriction Cuffs. However, those aren't used in battle because they only prevent more chakra from flowing through a Shinobi's system, but don't close it off entirely." Baki paused, taking a moment to think of how to best explain it. "Chakra Cuffs only work when the target is unconscious, as that's when barely any chakra is flowing through their system. When they wake up, they aren't able to access enough chakra to break the cuffs. However, if you were to somehow put those cuffs on someone in a battle when a lot of Chakra is flowing through their body, they could break them immediately."

Naruto remained silent.

"The most famous way, however, is the Uzumaki Clan's Chakra Locking Seals."

"Don't seals have to be physically applied? If one were to keep their distance, surely that would prevent them from being used?" Naruto asked, and Baki shook his head.

"For most Shinobi, that's the case. However, the Uzumaki Clan is one of the most powerful clans in the world because of their mastery over the sealing arts." Baki shook his head as if in disbelief of his own words. "They can create seals out of thin air, and move them through the air like Kunai to hit targets."

Naruto's eyes widened behind his blindfold. He'd never read anything like that about the Uzumaki clan in the Daimyo's Library. He was about to ask Baki how he knew that when the Jounin explained.

"I know this… because I've seen it with my own eyes. The Uzumaki participated in the Second Great Shinobi War, and they were truly a force to be reckoned with." Baki said, his voice quiet. Naruto had never heard his Sensei talk like that, and he was almost sure that his Sensei sounded… scared.

Shaking his head, Baki focused back on his student. "Regardless, Naruto. You must learn to fight without Chakra, and Taijutsu is the first of many ways to do that."

Naruto nodded, giving up arguing it with his Sensei. They'd talked about this exact thing several times, and he'd never been able to convince Baki to believe that he was incapable of getting stronger. _I'm not even sure why I can't get stronger, _Naruto thought. After each spar, he'd peered through his own skin and looked at his muscles, and they weren't changing.

"I'll be back in a minute, Naruto," Baki said, "take a break for right now."

Naruto didn't bother replying, Baki was already gone.

He considered walking to the rusted metal bench at the edge of the training field to take a breather, but instead choose to just sit down in the sand.

Taking a moment to calm himself, Naruto slipped off the now-soaked blindfold and laid it across his knee. The once soft and delicate fabric was now covered in sweat, and he would need to wash it later.

The feeling of his fingers on his face as he wiped off the condensed sweat felt wondrous, like scratching an itch he hadn't been able to reach for days. As the slight breeze caressed his face, Naruto finally opened his eyes.

His pale white, pupil-less eyes were revealed once again. Like all Hyūga, the veins around his eyes were raised, but only slightly.

Deactivating his Byakugan caused the veins to fade away, and though his eyes didn't visibly change, his perception did.

Naruto smiled as he lifted a handful of sand into the air, seeing the different colored specks within it as it filtered through his fingers. Turning his attention to the sky, Naruto was once again amazed at its brilliant color.

Catching the familiar sound of shifting sound behind him, Naruto turned to it. He'd expected to find Gaara, but instead, he found a small rabbit looking at him curiously, its head tilted to the side as its nose twitched.

"Hello," Naruto whispered softly. The tan-colored rabbit took a cautious hop toward him, and he slowly moved his hand to pat the ground next to him.

He expected the rabbit to run away, but rather, it hopped over to him and sat next to him, looking up at him curiously. Naruto was surprised as the rabbit nuzzled his hand, trying to push up against his leg.

Smiling, Naruto carefully petted the rabbit's head. He knew how a rabbit liked to be scratched, having two white rabbits of his own back home. _It is strange that it would come up to me like this, rabbits are very timid creatures, _Naruto thought.

Feeling the small creature suddenly tense under his hand, Naruto froze, concerned he'd hurt it.

"What's wrong?" Naruto whispered as the rabbit got to its feet and darted away.

_Oh..._

Turning to look behind him, Naruto discovered the cause of the rabbit's fear.

Standing a few feet away, their arms crossed in front of them, was Gaara.

Picking up the blindfold on his leg, Naruto got to his feet and slipped it back over his eyes. Activating his Byakugan, Naruto waited for the darkness to be replaced with the unnatural tones of his Dōjutsu.

"How can I help you, Gaara-san?" Naruto asked politely. For more than a month, Gaara had been living in the mansion, and during that time, Naruto had found it best to be polite to Gaara.

He wasn't concerned that Gaara was going to kill him anymore, simply because if Gaara really wanted to, he already would have.

"Does your existence have meaning?"

"What do you mean, Gaara?" Naruto asked, confused.

Gaara's look was unsettling. It reminded Naruto of how Gaara had looked when Rasa had told him he was free to kill the bandit camp.

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Enjoy what? " Naruto asked cautiously, unconsciously taking a step backward as Gaara stared at him. "I… I don't know what you're talking about."

—

It was times like these that she was glad she was the over-prepared type. Pouring chakra into a scroll seal in her hand, Pakura caught the pair of binoculars as they popped into existence.

Quickly pocketing the scroll, she got to her feet and moved to the edge of the roof. She'd been lying in the shade, but she needed a better angle.

She'd been surprised to see Gaara appear on the training field, as the Jinchuriki usually kept his distance from Naruto, but she wasn't concerned.

The Kazekage had requested she listen in on as many of Naruto and Gaara's conversations as she could. Since she couldn't get any closer, lip-reading would have to do.

Pakura had just lifted the binoculars to her eyes and began to adjust the range when she was forced to leap to the side, narrowly dodging a tendril of sand.

Flipping through the air, Pakura pushed off the roof and landed on the next building over.

She didn't bother asking the emotionless redhead staring at her why he'd attacked her. It was obvious.

_He doesn't want me listening in on this conversation,_ Pakura thought as she was once again forced to dodge. Rolling to the side, she avoided another tendril of sand as it exploded through the floor beneath her.

Drawing a kunai, Pakura deflected a sand shuriken and leaped to the next building. There was nothing else she could do, it wasn't worth fighting the Jinchuriki over.

As much as it pained her to do so, she turned around and ran.

—

As the silence began to drag on, Naruto wanted to search for his Sensei. Baki should be returning soon, and Gaara's… manically excited expression was unsettling.

"Killing him…" Gaara said, his face almost smiling, "did it give you meaning?"

"I don't understand, Gaara."

Naruto had never seen anything as terrifying as Gaara's grin, the red-head Jinchuriki staring at him with a look bordering hunger.

"You killed him… your… _friend._"

"I… I didn't kill anyone…" Naruto stuttered.

Gaara's grin grew wider, "You tried to forget like I did, but you can never forget…"

Naruto shook his head as he took several steps back. "I… no… I didn't…. I… I didn't kill him…"

"Killing is all there is in the world!" Gaara yelled, "Kill… or be killed!"

"No! I didn't kill anyone!" Naruto screamed, gripping his head as he stumbled backward. "Gahhhhh!"

"Yes…" Gaara said gleefully, "you remember! You remember crushing his life beneath your fingers…"

"No… It… I didn't want… It was necessary…"

"Yes… to prove our existence… we must end others…" Gaara said.

Sensing someone approaching, Gaara turned to leave, "You're being watched, Naruto."

A few moments passed, only the sound of a slight breeze across the sand breaking the silence.

"Naruto."

Looking up sharply, Naruto turned toward the voice.

"Hai, Baki-sensei."

Catching the handle of the wooden katana his Sensei had tossed him, Naruto twirled it through the air a few times to get a feel for the weight. Kenjutsu wasn't his worse subject, but it wasn't his best either. However, he knew that Kenjutsu was one of Baki's best fields.

_This is going to suck._

"Begin!"

** Kazekage Tower, Sunagakure, Land of Wind, EN. **

"Come in," Rasa called, glancing up at the entrance to his office as the doors were pushed open. "Ahh, Baki. I was wondering when you would show up."

Baki looked at him curiously and shut the doors before hurrying over to the desk and sitting down.

"You were expecting me?"

"Yes," Rasa replied as he crumpled up the paper he'd just finished reading and tossed it across the room into a waste bin. "I sent Gidayu to find you an hour ago."

"I haven't seen Gidayu today…" Baki replied, confused. "I've been with Naruto for the last couple hours at the training field. It shouldn't have been hard to find me."

Rasa waved Baki's concerns aside, "I told him to only talk to you when Naruto wasn't around. I'm guessing you and Naruto walked here together?"

Baki nodded.

"Why did you wish to see me?"

Leaning back in his chair, Rasa folded his hands in front of him, resting his chin on his interlaced fingers.

"Gaara talked to Naruto when you left the training field earlier today," Rasa said, and Baki looked at him in surprise. "Pakura was watching them, but before she was able to discern what was being said, Gaara attacked her with a sand clone. She was forced to run."

Baki covered his eyes with his hand and ran his hand all the way down to his chin, sighing deeply as he tried to process what Rasa had told him.

"So… now what?" Baki asked after a moment of silence.

Rasa shrugged, "I'd wondered if you would have any thoughts, but I have much the same feelings on the matter. There is nothing to prove that Gaara and Naruto talking privately is something we should try to prevent. If anything, it's a good thing."

Baki was about to reply when he cut himself short, realizing what he was thinking didn't make any sense. Naruto was intensely loyal to the Land of Wind, so if Gaara was to become ultimately loyal to Naruto, that was the _best-case_ scenario.

"I guess this means that we no longer have to worry about Gaara killing Naruto then?"

Rasa chuckled lightly, "So it would seem."

Sitting up in his chair, Rasa leaned forward on the desk.

"You came to my office for something? Since my summons never reached you."

Baki nodded, "Naruto wishes to go on a D-rank mission."

Rasa raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn't react.

"He asked that it be outside of Suna, as he wants to see more of the country."

"You believe he's ready for that?"

Baki nodded, "He's definitely above most fourth-year Academy Students. While his skills aren't as well rounded as I would like them to be, he's definitely able to hold his own. I believe a mission would be a good experience for him as well."

Tapping his fingers against his fist, Rasa mulled over Baki's request.

"If I were to allow this… he is not allowed to use any Gentle Fist techniques." Rasa ordered, "Yes, I know you've been trying to teach him how to use it."

Baki chuckled, "Trying is the word. I've just been describing jutsu I've seen Hyūga use. Figuring out how to do them himself has been quite the challenge for Naruto."

"Additionally, I will be ordering a team of Elite to trail you on this mission. With the concerning rumors going around and the fact that I can't effectively prove them wrong…. I don't want to take any chances." Rasa said, pulling out a piece of paper from his desk.

Quickly writing out permission for a D-rank mission to be given to Baki and his student, he set his quill down and held the paper out to Baki. Baki grasped it but didn't attempt to take it, seeing that Rasa hadn't let go of it yet.

"I've got a bad feeling about this… If it goes downhill, Naruto is your first priority. I feel like he's connected to this somehow." Rasa said, and let go of the paper.

"Should we cancel this then?" Baki asked.

Rasa shook his head, "No."

** Kazekage Mansion, Sunagakure, Land of Wind, EN. **

Naruto used to believe that one could learn all there was to learn from the seemingly unending knowledge that scrolls and books contained.

With little to do in the Daimyo's Palace, Naruto's favorite place had always been the Royal Library. He'd read hundreds of books, many of which he still didn't understand. However, the urge to learn and understand had always driven him to read line after line, regardless of whether it made sense.

His belief had changed shortly after arriving at Suna and coming close to death yet again. No amount of knowledge would have saved him there.

What he needed was experience and the only way to gain it was to undergo the things himself. He could read accounts of great warriors and their struggles to the end of time, but he would never truly be able to understand it.

After he'd woken up in the hospital, recovering from Gaara's last attempt on his life, he'd realized he now understood Reto, the first Kazekage of the Land of Wind . He'd read the man's diary in the Royal Library, and had never been able to understand the Kage's raw determination to live.

Time and time again, Reto had come within inches of death, and every time, he had crawled his way back from the edge by pure force of will.

It hadn't meant anything to him when he'd first read it, but now he could understand. If one didn't live, one didn't become, they could never understand its true value. He could learn about struggles and accomplishments, but he hadn't overcome.

_I have to survive, no matter what.,_Naruto thought. _I don't know why… but there is some reason that I'm needed. There is something I must overcome._

Placing his hand on the side of the unrolled scroll, Naruto let chakra flow into it and watched the pile of supplies vanish.

The Shinobi Academy had taught him how to pack for missions, and the differences in supplies needed depending on how long a mission was. Baki had come by yesterday evening and told him that Rasa had approved his request for a mission. They were leaving today.

However, Baki hadn't told him how long the mission would be, so he'd packed for a week.

Picking up the pristine white scroll, Naruto slipped it into the Kunai pouch Baki had given him. The Sealing Scroll was one of the few things from the palace that he'd been allowed to bring with him, and he'd been using it for everything ever since coming to Suna.

Walking across his room, Naruto opened the door and stepped into the luxurious hallway. Paintings covered every wall, and the floor was lined with thick carpet.

It didn't take Naruto long to reach the entrance hall and make his way down the stairs.

Stopping on the last few steps, Naruto turned to look behind him.

"Hello, Gaara."

Gaara didn't reply, only staring at him from the top of the stairs.

Quickly scanning the Mansion, Naruto made sure neither of Gaara's siblings was nearby.

"I can always see you, Gaara. Don't follow me." Naruto said calmly, "You're not allowed outside of Suna."

Turning away, Naruto kept his enhanced sight on Gaara as he opened the door and stepped outside. A moment later, he was on the empty street and walking toward the main gate out of Suna, where Baki would meet him.

Once he was sure that Gaara wasn't following him, Naruto stopped trying to switch between focusing on Gaara, and the surroundings around him. He'd taken every opportunity he could to improve his ability to use the Byakugan to focus on far away things while walking, and he'd improved drastically. Still, it took a lot of concentration.

It wasn't long before he reached the edge of the dead zone and entered a street with civilians in it. No one paid him any mind, which he preferred. For a few days after he'd left the Academy to train under Baki, everyone had been staring at him. Naruto was glad that had stopped.

Kicking a piece of sandstone to the side of the road, Naruto focused on the buildings lining the street.

Suna had been the first city built in the Land of Wind, mostly thanks to the first Kazekage. Like Rasa, the first Kazekage had been a Magnet Release user, and had used his Kekkai Genkai to cut the mountain Suna was built within, in half. A massive crater had been carved out of the mountain, and Suna had been built within.

Naruto had been amazed to learn such a thing was even possible, and that one man could possess that much power. Though, he'd always wondered what happened to the other half of the mountain.

Almost half an hour later, Naruto reached the front gate. Having spotted Baki sometime before, Naruto immediately made his way over to his Sensei.

"Ahh, Naruto, there you are," Baki said, noticing the pale-skinned prince as he crossed the street. "We need to head out now if we're going to make it in time."

Naruto nodded, and Baki raised an eyebrow.

"You have a question? I can tell by your frown." Baki said.

"Hai." Naruto replied, "are we really going on a D-rank mission?"

"Uhm, yes?"

"Then why are there at least three shinobi following me? I know I'm trailed by a Kunoichi at all times, but why so many all of a sudden?" Naruto asked, and Baki chuckled. Naruto's ability to use the Byakugan was astounding. Baki knew the Kekkai Genkai gave the user superior vision. Notwithstanding, it was still possible to hide from a Byakugan user.

_It's probably growing up in the Daimyo's Palace that helped him improve his skills, _Baki mused. _Trying to spot the guards following him around._

"Rasa-sama is concerned about your safety. Some rumors are going around that he's afraid might have some validity to them, and he wants to avoid any potential issues." Baki replied, and Naruto nodded.

"I understand."

"Good. Let's get going then, while there is still time. I'd like to cover as much ground as possible before the sun reaches its peak."

Stepping out onto the street, the pair made their way toward the vast chasm that led to the main gate. As usual, there was a large stream of civilians coming out of and entering the passageway, and it took them a bit to squeeze in.

As they walked in pace with the civilians, Naruto focused on the shadows high above. He'd noticed the Shinobi hiding in the shadows when taking a break from reading a few weeks ago. There were usually around two dozen Shinobi guarding the entrance from within the shadows at any given time. To the civilians, they were completely invisible.

However, Naruto's mastery over the Byakugan had improved, and he'd gotten better at seeing through Genjutsu. Baki had tried to teach him to break them, but there wasn't a need. It was impossible to put a Byakugan user under a Genjutsu.

Naruto's observations of the Suna Gate Guard came to an abrupt halt as Baki stopped suddenly. The reason was readily apparent, the Shinobi in front of him radiating power like a diamond in the sand. Honing his sight, Naruto noticed the insignia for the Puppeteer Brigade on their left breast.

"Baki-sama, I must request that you turn around and report to the Kazekage's Office." The Puppeteer said. The civilians had pressed themselves up against the walls of the ravine, realizing something with Shinobi was happening, and that it was best to avoid it.

"Why?"

"The Jinchuriki is following you and is ignoring his protection detail's orders to stop. We can only conclude he intends to follow you out of Suna. Until a solution can be found, the Jinchuriki Protection Team Captain asks that you stop." The Puppeteer said. At the mention of the Jinchuriki, the tension in the air rose drastically. Naruto watched the civilians as they barely kept themselves in check, many on the edge of pushing the people in front of them to get away faster.

Baki sighed and nodded as he turned around. "Let's go, Naruto, this should be interesting."

—

Locating Gaara hadn't been hard, the Jinchuriki wasn't trying to hide.

As they walked back to the Kazekage Tower, followed in the shadows by a team of Elite Shinobi, Naruto had watched Gaara travel across the rooftops to their left. Once they reached the tower and began to climb the steps, Gaara had dropped to the street and followed after them.

Naruto was at a loss for why Gaara was following him so closely.

He'd spent a lot of time thinking about it but eventually had given up. Naruto didn't think he'd ever be able to understand Gaara.

He was pretty sure no one would ever be able to.

A couple of weeks after he'd entered the Shinobi Academy, Temari and Kankuro had invited him to eat at a restaurant. There, they had told him the story of Gaara's life. How Rasa had hated Gaara for years, tried to have him killed by his own uncle. That Gaara hadn't always wanted to kill everyone.

Naruto had never said anything to Gaara about what he knew.

He'd come to the conclusion that he was still alive because Gaara had never wanted to kill him, but only show that he could. Naruto understood that and accepted it.

_It doesn't explain why he's so set on following me so closely, though,_ Naruto thought as he followed his Sensei up the winding stairs to the top of the Kazekage Tower. After a few moments, they exited out onto the top floor and walked up the doors at the end of the hall.

Baki knocked twice.

Naruto didn't hear any response, though he saw Rasa speak through the door. Following his Sensei inside, Naruto bowed to Rasa, who nodded in response. Both Baki and Rasa turned to look at the open office doors, each able to sense Gaara as he made his way up the stairs.

A moment later, Gaara stepped into the office, and two invisible Shinobi closed the doors behind him.

"Gaara." Rasa started, folding his hands on the table in front of him. "You know you're not allowed to leave Suna without express permission."

Gaara stared at his father.

"Why were you following Naruto out of Suna?"

Naruto looked between Rasa and Gaara, realizing there was some sort of war happening between the two. The silence dragged on for some time, and Naruto was sure that Gaara was on the edge of attacking his father when he finally spoke.

"I wanted to."

"Are you trying to kill Naruto?"

Another pause.

"No."

Naruto was surprised by the sudden relief he felt.

Rasa looked like he wanted to say more, but had decided against it.

"You're dismissed, Gaara."

The redhead Jinchuriki instantly vanished in a swirl of sand. Naruto followed the chakra trail out of the tower and found Gaara standing on a nearby roof, staring up at him.

"Until I can find time to think about this, your mission is canceled," Rasa said, shaking his head. "I do apologize, Naruto."

Naruto nodded. Baki began walking toward the doors but stopped when he realized Naruto wasn't following him.

Looking up from the scroll on his desk, Rasa looked at Naruto expectantly.

"Will I be able to go on another mission in the future?" Naruto asked, and Rasa sighed.

"I'm not sure," Rasa replied, shifting through the scrolls on his desk. "If Gaara is set on following you no matter what… then most likely not. It requires a great deal of time and effort to keep Gaara somewhere against his will. I can't justify doing that for a D-rank level mission outside of Suna."

Naruto was silent for a moment.

"Could Gaara be allowed to come with us then?"

"I'll consider it."

"Thank you, Rasa-sama."

* * *

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	16. Kumo

** Aoki Restaurant, Sunagakure, Land of Wind, EN. **

Rasa chuckled as the chunk of fish flew up into the air, confident the Kunai flying towards his head, hidden behind the meat, would never reach him.

Sure enough, once the Kunai had pierced the meat, it reversed course abruptly, as the string of chakra attached to its hilt was sharply pulled.

The chefs of Aoki would never cease to amaze Rasa. Despite eating here frequently, they always had something new to show.

Aoki was a restaurant only for those that knew about it. Its single room, dominated by natural wood and rice paper, created a simple, yet warm and authentic ambiance. The room wasn't massive either, only having three tables and a bar counter.

However, that wasn't what made Aoki such a special place, its history was. It had been created over twenty years before by two retired Shinobi from the Second Great Shinobi war. Since its founding, it had only employed three other retired Shinobi.

One of them was a retired Puppeteer.

Rasa shook his head and smiled as his old friend, Junzo, picked up the just finished plate of food, and flipped over the bar counter. A second later, the dish was set on the table in front of him; none of the food the least bit disturbed.

"I'll never figure out how you do that, Junzo," Rasa commented, breathing in deeply through his nose.

Junzo smiled. His hands folded behind him.

"Enjoy your food, Rasa-sama." Junzo said, "Sasori-sama and Baki-sama are on their way."

Rasa nodded and caught the pair of chopsticks Junzo tossed to him.

Snapping them apart, he habitually adjusted them in his hand and picked up one of the sushi rolls on his plate.

It was delicious, of course.

Hearing the room's only door slid open, Rasa looked over to find Baki, who was closing the door behind him.

"Seems I was first this time," Baki commented as he sat down at the table, and Rasa chuckled.

Setting the chopsticks down, Rasa waited for Sasori to arrive, knowing that he'd have to wait to finish his dinner.

"Ahh, damnit, you beat me," Sasori exclaimed as he entered.

Making eye contact with the owner of the restaurant, Sasori created an X-like symbol with his hands. The retired Shinobi nodded and gestured to the other chefs to follow him. A second later, they had all vanished.

Rasa raised an eyebrow in surprise as the chair Sasori was about to grab moved, Baki having pushed it with his foot.

Rolling his eyes, Sasori attached a chakra thread to the chair and pulled it back into place, catching it and sitting down.

"If you two are done acting like children every time we have a meeting, I'll explain why I summoned you here." Rasa said, considering eating another piece of sushi roll.

Giving in, Rasa attached a chakra thread to one of the pieces and manipulated it through the air and into his mouth.

"Mainly, I wish to discuss Naruto, and get your thoughts on some inconsistencies I've noticed about him." Rasa began after a moment, "After that, I want to hear what you've learned about the rumors I asked you both to investigate."

"Sounds good to me, I've definitely got some stuff to share on those matters as well." Sasori said, suddenly wishing they'd met in Rasa's office, as he now had nowhere to prop his feet.

"I'm guessing you've come to the same conclusion I have?" Baki asked, and Rasa gestured for him to continue, taking the opportunity to eat another piece of his delicious dinner.

"I don't believe that Naruto's real father was a Hyūga… it just doesn't make sense." Baki said seriously, and Sasori looked over at him skeptically.

"I get that he has baby horns, white skin, and a possible personality disorder." Sasori said, "but how exactly would he have gotten the Byakugan if he wasn't a Hyūga?"

Baki shrugged and leaned back in his chair, "I've no idea, but how would you explain Naruto's oddities?"

"White skin could be some sort of recessive genetic trait from some family members."

Baki pointed at the side of his head, "That doesn't explain the horns. I'm not really worried about the white skin, while rare, it's not exactly like… horns coming out of the sides of your head rare."

"We're sure they're horns?" Sasori asked, and Rasa nodded.

"Tanyu confirmed that they were naturally growing out of his skull in the Tsukinomiyako Mountain Range. I had him check again when Naruto was unconscious for a week in the hospital."

Sasori shook his head and pressed his palms against his eyes as he tried to think of some sort of explanation.

"That doesn't make any sense," Sasori admitted finally, giving up.

Rasa pointed one of his chopsticks at Sasori, "It makes more sense if you assume that Naruto isn't Yura's son."

"Whoa, okay, you're saying that Torio lied completely and that he adopted Naruto… from somewhere?" Sasori asked, surprised.

"Yes."

"Why would Torio lie about that then?" Baki wondered aloud, "If we assume that Torio did, in fact, adopt Naruto, then we can assume that it was because Naruto has the Byakugan."

Baki shook his head, "What is there to be gained from lying about Naruto's history, especially to you?"

Leaning back in his chair, Rasa began twirling the chopsticks between his fingers.

"Let's assume that Naruto is, somehow, a Hyūga," Rasa said. Sasori and Baki nodded. "Then how would he have ever gotten away from that clan? They're known for how set they are on protecting their Kekkai Genkai, even to the point of killing deserters."

"I don't know," Baki admitted.

"This is a pointless conversation," Sasori interjected, "we don't know enough to make any solid conclusions. All we can do is guess, and we're not getting anywhere. However, I am going to guess that the real point of this conversation is that you're considering going to Kazedama and questioning Torio about Naruto."

Rasa nodded silently.

"That's a good thing, in my opinion," Baki added, and Rasa looked at him curiously. "There are a couple things that cause me concern about Naruto daily, in fact."

"How so?" Sasori inquired.

"Well, Naruto's mastery of Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Kenjutsu to some degree is increasing rapidly. However, his Taijutsu has stayed the same since I became his Sensei." Baki explained, and Sasori whistled in surprise.

"That's honestly just impressive, considering you were kicked out of the Shinobi Academy for being too intense in Taijutsu training."

"Yes," Baki replied, gritting his teeth. "But that's beside the point. I fear that Naruto is physically incapable of getting any stronger… a genetic defect potentially."

"Interesting," Rasa said.

Baki nodded, "What's more, Naruto has acted strangely several times. Similar to how you described him when you sparred with him at the Daimyo's palace."

"Ah," Rasa said, "Where it seems like he's unsure what he wants to do, he's conflicted and repeatedly completely switches between things? Sometimes it seems like a different person almost."

"Similar to that, yes."

"Sounds like something else to ask Torio about," Sasori interrupted, "I'm curious to hear about this mission that Naruto almost went on a few days ago. Which I suspect was one of the topics you wanted to talk about?"

"Hai," Rasa replied, gesturing to Baki to hold his thoughts for the time being. "To fill you in, Naruto has requested to go on another mission, and that I allow Gaara to go with him this time."

"Makes sense to me," Sasori said, surprising Rasa. "I don't really see the problem. Torio wanted Gaara to become Naruto's personal bodyguard. It seems like that's been accomplished to me."

"Gaara could be trying to kill Naruto," Baki warned, and Sasori scoffed.

"Gaara has tried to kill Naruto, yes. But, since first meeting Naruto, Gaara has passed up two opportunities where he could have successfully killed Naruto, and no one could have stopped him. If Gaara really wanted Naruto dead by now, he would be." Sasori said, and Baki didn't reply, just staring at the wooden table in thought.

Rasa sighed, shaking his head. "I'll allow it then, however, you will be going as well, Sasori. I want both of you to carry a seal."

Both of Rasa's subordinates nodded.

"Now, tell me what you know about these rumors," Rasa ordered, and Sasori sighed, his usually lively aura fading away.

"I regret to say that I'm really quite lost. I've been unable to locate the original source of the rumors, and I'm hesitant to begin actually searching the nearby land for a Kumo camp. If there is one hidden somewhere, and we were to discover it, we could possibly trigger an attack on Suna before we're ready."

"So, you believe we should take this seriously then?" Baki asked, and Sasori shrugged.

"We have to be careful, is what I'm saying," Sasori replied. "If there is a camp, then we can assume that there are spies in Suna. I think we should begin preparing for war, but subtly."

"I agree. However, I am going to begin sending out Elite to the north and west. If there is a camp, I want to find it." Rasa said, and Sasori shrugged again.

"Why is Kumo moving toward another war, though? It can't be because of the attack on their embassy… can it?" Baki asked though he didn't get an answer. "I wonder if the Kumo Shinobi ever found the Shinobi that attacked their embassy, I'll have to go and ask them."

Sasori chuckled, "I'm sure they'll be happy to answer all of your questions. Be sure to ask if they've got any friends hiding around as well."

"It's worth a shot."

Sasori raised his hands in the air helplessly.

—

"The Jinchuriki ruined our chance," Tsukasa stated coldly, masking her annoyance.

Tera was silent, and Tsukasa wished she had the power to see through the Jutsu masking the man's face. It was impossible to read him, and that bothered her.

"How possible is it that the Prince will go on another mission?" Samuk asked no one in particular, and Tsukasa shrugged, uncaring. It was possible, but she didn't really believe it would happen. There was just no way the Kazekage would allow it.

"Then, we should fall back to plan B," Samuk said, and Tsukasa rolled her eyes.

"We can't do that, idiot." Tsukasa chided, causing Samuk to glare at her. "The overwhelming brute force has been tried into the ground, to the point where we don't possess the power required anymore."

Tsukasa knew she was pissing Tera off, but she didn't care, the man was an idiot. He would get himself killed sooner or later. From talking to Raidon, Tera's second-in-command, she'd come to learn that Tera had sent well over a hundred of his own men to their inevitable death.

Tera was set on avenging his fallen master, to the point of sacrificing those loyal to him. All that was left of the group was present, two stationed by the door as guards. The rest were hiding in the shadows. She wasn't sure exactly how many members were left, but she estimated less than two dozen.

With the organization's history, it was almost a shame Tera had been left in charge.

War was coming, she could smell it in the air, and this organization would be destroyed in the crossfire because of Tera's incompetence.

"So, do we just wait for another opportunity, then?" Samuk demanded, though no one responded.

Tsukasa had quickly realized that Samuk was the only one actually loyal to the group, and not intending to betray them. She wasn't entirely sure about Otabane… the mysterious Shinobi could become a problem to her plans.

She'd heard the rumors being whispered in the shadows; Kumo was coming. However, she'd actually confirmed them. There was a sizeable Kumo army hidden in the nearby mountain range, and they were waiting for something. Her spies had been unable to discover what that was.

However, Tsukasa could guess, and she was pretty confident she had the answer.

Kumo were the original hunters of the stone. Hell, they'd even started an entire war with the Land of Wind for the Stone just a few years after the end of the Warring States Era. Somehow, Kumo had gotten wind that the Stone had been found, and were also after the Prince.

The fact that they hadn't already kidnapped him meant the Jinchuriki was a lot more dangerous than she'd initially thought.

Tera didn't know any of this, because he was trusting her to tell him. A costly mistake.

_Everything is going to explode soon, and I don't intend to be in the middle of it when it does, _Tsukasa thought. _Hopefully, I can find some way to nab the Prince during the onslaught, but if not..._

"All we can do is wait at this point. If I learn anything, I will inform you immediately, Tera-sama." Tsukasa said, easily keeping the disgust out of her voice.

"Very good, you're all dismissed," Tera ordered and watched Tsukasa form a hand seal before vanishing into thin air. He followed her with his eyes as she walked across the room and opened the door before stepping outside into the cold night air.

Tera grimaced as Samuk activated yet another henge, and left through the window. Otabane quickly following.

"We should have killed Samuk already," Raidon said as one of the cloaked Shinobi in the room closed and latched the window.

"He's a useful idiot," Tera replied, getting to his feet.

"Can we trust them?" Raidon asked, walking up to the table. Other than himself, Raidon was the only other original member. Everyone else had died.

"No."

"We should leave Suna," Raidon said, their voice as emotionless as it had always been. "We're too weak, and we risk being discovered and killed."

"No! We cannot risk losing our chance to capture the Prince."

Raidon was silent.

Tera waited a moment to see if Raidon would continue. He didn't.

"I'm going to the Delta safe house for tonight. Meet me at the Kajitsushu apartment tomorrow morning." Tera instructed. Pulling a scroll out of his kunai pouch, he unfurled it on the table.

"Hai."

When the sealing smoke had cleared, Raidon was gone.

Within a minute, Tera had changed out of his Shinobi clothing, sealed them, and switched into a simple pair of civilian clothes. Smoothly slipping the scroll back into his Kunai pouch, Tera adjusted his shirt to cover it.

"All of you are dismissed as well," Tera said, and though nothing visibly happened, numerous shadows vanished.

He briefly considered following their example but decided against it. He'd wanted to walk at a civilian pace for a reason. He needed time to think.

Picking up the straw hat on the table, Tera slipped it on his head and stepped outside. Once the door was locked, he began making his way down the shadowy street. It would take him an hour to reach the Delta safehouse, but that was fine with him.

_I cannot trust anything Tsukasa tells me, but her spy network is invaluable._ Tera mused, _she's smart enough to have fail-safes in place if she were to die. So killing her and taking over is out of the question._

Otabane was also of concern to him, he couldn't trust them.

_Bringing in new members so suddenly was a mistake,_ Tera admitted. Reaching the end of the alleyway, Tera came to a stop and expanded his senses. He didn't want to be seen by a patrol or civilian. As unlikely as it was, they could become a witness.

Suddenly sensing a chakra signature above him, Tera leaped backward, but it was already too late. Feeling something hit his neck, he ripped it out, at the same time drawing a Kunai.

Feeling his chakra slipping out of his control, Tera struggled to keep his balance.

_It's too late,_ Tera realized and tried to force chakra into the seal on his chest.

Nothing happened.

Once the target had collapsed, Ashito signaled for his team to move. Together, eight RAIKOU dropped out of the shadows. Two began searching the quarry for weapons, while two more began tying up the target's hands and legs.

Ashito and the other four RAIKOU stayed on the lookout. They didn't want to be interrupted by a Suna Patrol.

Twenty seconds later, the target was wholly neutralized and ready for transport.

"Let's move," Ashito ordered.

** Kazekage Mansion, Sunagakure, Land of Wind, EN. **

Chess had always been one of Naruto's favorite past times. His father had taught him how to play the game at a young age, and he fell in love with it simply because he had never been able to beat his father.

With Baki canceling their training session and Naruto having forgotten to go to the library to get new scrolls to read, he now had nothing to do. So, he'd located Temari and asked her if there was a chessboard in the mansion.

She'd been happy to help him, and a few minutes later, he'd set up the chessboard on the study floor.

Because of his responsibilities, Naruto's father hadn't been able to play chess with him as much as Naruto would have liked. So, he'd learned to play against himself.

An hour had quickly passed, and Naruto had beaten himself twice.

As he was collecting the pieces to reset the board, Naruto had been surprised by Gaara as the redheaded Jinchuriki silently entered the room.

He hadn't said anything, but when Gaara sat down on the other side of the board, Naruto couldn't hide his surprise any longer.

Of course, Gaara didn't say anything.

Quickly setting the board, Naruto moved one of his pawns forward and waited to see what Gaara would do. Instead of physically touching his pieces, Gaara manipulated the sand in his gourd to move one of the pawns forward.

Naruto reacted accordingly.

For an hour, neither said anything, merely playing the game. Naruto found it relaxing, just matching his mind against Gaara's in a battle of strategy.

He was surprised to find that Gaara didn't like taking chances. Despite creating multiple openings for Gaara to get close to his King, Gaara refused to take them. Only when he could ensure complete success would Gaara strike.

It hadn't been what Naruto was expecting.

"Hey."

Looking up, Naruto realized he'd completely stopped paying attention to his surroundings. Standing awkwardly in the door was Temari, who seemed to be surprised to see Gaara.

"Would you two mind if I brought a friend over?"

Naruto looked at Gaara, wondering how he would respond.

"You don't have to ask me, Temari-san. I am but a guest here." Naruto replied, and Temari nodded distractedly, clearly focused on Gaara.

"No."

Temari smiled, "Thank you, Gaara."

Naruto looked at Gaara in surprise, watching Temari hurry down the hallway out of the corner of his eye.

"It seems you do care about your siblings, Gaara," Naruto noted as he moved his queen. With Gaara's defensive strategy, Naruto had been forced to wait for Gaara to make a move. The game had dissolved into little more than waiting for the other to make a mistake.

Gaara didn't answer.

Thirty minutes later, Gaara had won. Naruto wasn't sure if he should congratulate Gaara or not and was debating it when Gaara stood up and walked out of the room.

_That was the strangest hour of my life,_ Naruto mused.

Getting to his feet, Naruto picked up the chessboard and placed it on a nearby table before leaving the room.

He was hungry.

Making his way down the hall, Naruto stepped off the entrance hall balcony and onto the stairs. Hearing the familiar sound of the front doors opening, he stopped.

"I can't be here, Temari. My parents will kill me."

The voice belonged to a girl Naruto had never seen before, who was tightly holding onto Temari's arm as they both entered the Mansion.

"Chinami, stop worrying about it, they won't know if you don't tell them. Besides, there's nothing to worry about."

"The demon lives here… He could kill me!" Chinami said fearfully, and Temari sighed before finally noticing Naruto on the stairs.

"Calm down," Temari said, pulling her friend after her. "Meet Naruto. Naruto, this is Chinami."

Naruto bowed, "A pleasure to meet you, Chinami."

"L-like wise." Chinami stuttered, fearfully looking around the room.

"If you're looking for Gaara, he's not here. He left a few minutes ago." Naruto offered, and the girl's head snapped toward him.

"So, he does live here?"

Temari sighed, "Yes, he does. Gaara is my younger brother."

"What!?" Chinami screeched, and Naruto winced behind his blindfold.

Breaking free of Temari's grip on her arm, Chinami turned and ran across the entrance hall and out the still-open front doors.

Turning to Temari, Naruto noticed the dejected look on her face.

"Did you not tell her that Gaara lives here?" Naruto asked, and Temari sighed.

"I avoided the question. It's tough to make friends when Gaara is your brother. Even though it's obvious, most kids don't realize it, so I try to avoid talking about it." Temari explained before walking over and slamming the doors closed.

"It's really not a problem though," Temari said, smiling.

Naruto wasn't sure what to say, so chose to remain silent. He felt like he could understand Temari's desire to make friends. Many times he'd seen children playing in the streets of Kazedama and wanted to leave the palace to go play with them.

"Perhaps she will calm down?" Naruto offered after a moment of silence.

"Thanks, Naruto," Temari replied and made her way up the stairs toward her room. Naruto didn't move, watching her walk away through the back of his head.

* * *

6 to 12 more chapters are **always available** or in development over at our discord.

The Discord Server code is: **yewTGGX**

New chapters are typically released _every_ week on Friday.

**Join us to read, comment and contribute to rough drafts, drafts, release candidates and public chapters before they're released elsewhere!**

**Special thanks to those that helped create this chapter:**

Tensleep  
Qibolu

**Beta Readers:**

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**OC Creators of OC's in this chapter:**

Ashito (by Shika)  
Tsukasa (GrimTruth)  
Samuk (GrimTruth)  
Otabane (GrimTruth)


	17. Silent Killing

"So… what are we doing?"

The look Baki gave Sasori was clearly full of annoyance, though Sasori didn't pay it any mind.

"Did you not read the mission scroll before we left?"

Sasori smiled, "Nope."

Sighing, Baki shook his head before checking that Gaara and Naruto were still following them. They had left Suna a few hours ago and had been running across the desert since then.

"Our mission is from a civilian-owned company in Wani City. They were contracted by the mayor to build a new well in the center of the city, due to the old ones beginning to run dry."

"So, we were hired to help them dig a hole?" Sasori asked, not at all looking forward to the prospect. _I could just make Naruto do all the work, _Sasori mused.

"No. They've already begun digging the hole for the new well." Baki explained, "We were hired because they hit a rock that won't break no matter what they hit it with."

"Interesting," Sasori replied, clearly not interested.

"A simple Jutsu will most likely suffice," Baki finished.

Pausing for a moment as they dropped off the edge of a vast sand dune, Sasori landed on the ground like he hadn't just fallen several dozens of feet and continued running.

"So, this is truly a getting the prince's feet wet mission then?" Sasori inquired, but Baki ignored him. Turning to look over his shoulder, Sasori tried to see if he had gotten any reaction out of the pale-skinned blindfolded boy, but Naruto's expression was blank.

Since they'd all met up at Suna's front gate, Naruto hadn't said a word, and Sasori was determined to get him to say something.

However, Sasori had to acknowledge that the scene he was seeing was hard to believe. If even a couple of months ago, someone had come up to him and told him he'd be going on a _D-rank_ mission with Gaara, and the Prince of the Land of Wind, of all people. He would have laughed them out of the room.

Yet, here he was, doing little more than babysitting the Prince. He didn't think Gaara was going to try to kill Naruto again. Still, he did understand why Rasa wasn't willing to take any more risk than he already was.

_It isn't the real reason I'm on this mission anyway,_ Sasori mused. _It's likely the group that attacked Torio knows Naruto is here by now. If they attack, it will be up to Baki and me to protect Naruto. There is no guarantee that Gaara will defend Naruto of his own volition._

Sasori couldn't complain though, they were at least traveling at a Shinobi-level speed. However, it was barely above Genin level. If they'd been forced to walk across the desert to Wani City, Sasori would have been forced to carry Naruto on his shoulder the whole way.

"I see you've been improving Naruto's speed, Baki-san," Sasori commented, and his friend nodded. "I was surprised, I must admit. When I heard that Rasa had selected you to be Naruto's Sensei, I didn't believe it."

As Sasori had known he would, Baki frowned and turned away.

He laughed.

It was an old jibe, dating back to Baki's early Jounin days. The poor man hadn't known what he wanted to do with his Shinobi career and had tried to become a Jounin Sensei. However, the Academy had ended up kicking him out after a month. He was too harsh on the students, and many had quit under his teaching.

Deciding he'd harassed Baki enough, Sasori turned his focus towards Naruto.

"So, Naruto-san, is Baki-san teaching you well?"

"Hai."

Sasori expected the Prince to elaborate, but he didn't. Frowning, Sasori decided to change the topic.

"So… are you two getting along now? No more trying to kill each other?" Sasori inquired, carefully watching Gaara's and Naruto's expression. Surprisingly, Naruto actually turned and looked at Gaara, seemingly also wanting to know the answer to Sasori's question.

Gaara ignored the question.

"Seems like it, since you're following Naruto around all of the time, Gaara," Sasori said.

"I don't know why Gaara is following me," Naruto said as he turned away, and Sasori got the sense that the Prince was lying. It was hard to tell with the blindfold.

Sasori was about to ask another question and noticed Baki's look out of the corner of his eye. Letting it go, he turned back and focused on the smooth surface of the desert in front of him. They would be arriving at Wani City soon.

_I'm too used to harassing my own men, _Sasori mused.

**Wani City, Land of Wind, EN.**

Due to the harsh sandstorms common to the Land of Wind, all cities and villages were required to erect walls around them. Wani City was no exception to the law, however, Naruto could tell they did not meet the law's requirements.

Once the city came within his range, Naruto immediately noticed how short the walls were. Naruto had seen sandstorms before from the protection of the Daimyo's Palace, and very few had ever made it over Kazedama's impressive wall.

However, some had.

Which was why Naruto was amazed that Wani City was anything more than just another sand dune. The walls barely reached two stories high, and would be utterly useless should a sandstorm arrive.

It wasn't his problem to deal with, and Naruto put it out of his mind as they reached the front gates.

"Where are the guards?" Naruto asked, having expected to find Shinobi hidden in the shadows of the wall when he saw the gate lacking protection.

"Wani City is one of the few places in Suna that doesn't have its own Shinobi," Baki replied as they stepped off the sand and onto a paved sandstone road. "Due to its close proximity to Suna, the Wani City's mayor relies on us for such things."

"That seems dangerous…"

Naruto didn't finish his thought as the relative silence was shattered by an ear-piercing shriek of terror. Turning his attention toward the sound, Naruto saw an older civilian woman pointing at them, her expression one of pure horror.

"It's the Sand Demon!" The civilian woman screamed as she turned and fled down the street.

Naruto watched as civilian after civilian turned toward them, their faces quickly becoming one of fear and terror before they too turned and ran.

Hearing someone laughing, Naruto was surprised to see it was Sasori.

"Sasori-sama, why are you laughing?" Naruto inquired, confused.

Sasori grinned at him before pointing at the fleeing civilians, the street quickly becoming a ghost town.

"You don't see that happen in Suna, do you?"

Naruto shook his head.

"That's because the civilians back home have learned that screaming just draws more attention to themselves," Sasori explained, gesturing to Gaara as he did so, and Naruto finally understood. The civilians were running because they were afraid of Gaara.

_It makes sense, _Naruto mused as he followed after Baki, who had continued to walk down the street.

"The company that hired us is named Izumiya. They own a building here, and that's where they requested we meet them. After that, they'll show us the well." Baki explained, and sure enough, after a few minutes of uneventful walking through empty streets, they arrived at a building with the company's name carved into the door.

As Baki stepped up to the door and knocked, Naruto peered through the walls. There were eight men inside, all civilians. Two were on the top floor, seemingly sorting through shelves of books. Another two were in a room by themselves, sharpening, and cleaning construction tools.

The last four men were sitting around a table in the middle of the main room. They had been discussing something, but at Baki's knock, the oldest one got to his feet and walked toward the door.

Unsurprisingly, the civilian was terrified as soon as he opened the door, his eyes immediately drawn to the red-headed Jinchuriki standing off to the side.

The door slammed shut.

Sasori laughed, and Baki shook his head before pushing open the unlocked door, seeing that the old man had run in fear.

"What did you expect was going to happen?" Sasori asked as he waited for Naruto to follow Baki inside. "This is going to be the most interesting part."

Through the wall, Naruto could see the men were now hiding in the tool room.

"Actually talking to the person that hired us," Sasori finished, laughing again.

Noticing that Baki was looking around the empty and abandoned room, Naruto pointed to the door at the back. "Six of them, including the old man, are in that room. There are two more on the floor above. They don't know we're here."

"Thank you," Baki said as he walked across the room and attempted to open the door. It budged slightly but didn't open. Gripping the door handle tightly, Baki yanked hard and broke the broom handle that had been blocking the door from opening.

Baki stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"This is why Gaara is only sent on assassination or mass-killing missions," Sasori commented after a moment. "He just ends up hindering any mission he goes on."

Naruto looked at Gaara, but the Jinchuriki didn't seem to have heard Sasori.

_Why did Gaara come on this mission then? Rasa-sama didn't force him too, it was offered, and Gaara accepted,_ Naruto mused. _Is he here to protect me? Why would he do that? Who would be after me? Do the Assassins know I'm here?_

All he had was questions, and asking Gaara for answers would be pointless. He would have to find the answers himself.

Hearing the door open, Naruto saw that the old man had apparently calmed down enough to leave the safety of the closet.

"This is Magohachi. He's going to lead us to the dig site." Baki explained, and Magohachi nodded nervously as he watched Gaara.

It was apparent the old man expected Gaara to attack him, but Naruto knew that Gaara wouldn't kill Magohachi. There wouldn't be any satisfaction in it.

"If-if you'll follow me…" Magohachi stuttered, and Baki gestured for him to lead the way.

Stepping to the side, Naruto let the old man pass by and saw Gaara staring across the room at the door behind which the other five civilians were hiding. As Gaara's hand begin to rise, Naruto walked up to him, causing the Jinchuriki to turn away from his prey.

"Don't, Gaara. You won't enjoy it."

Turning away, Naruto hurried after Baki and Magohachi. Catching up just as they stepped outside, he paused at the door, holding it open.

Gaara stared at Naruto for a moment, his hand still half-raised in the air. He could smell the fear just beyond the door.

Waiting for Gaara to walk by, Naruto closed the door and ignored Sasori's inquisitive look as he stepped down the building's small flight of stairs.

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at the city plaza.

It quickly descended into anarchy.

Naruto had seen the area, which seemed to act as a market place for the city, long before they had arrived.

Baki's firm grip on Magohachi's shoulder prevented the man from joining the others in their fear-fueled dash for safety.

_Idiots… fools… all of them,_ Naruto thought as he watched the civilians run away, abandoning their stalls and belongings. Deciding to ignore them, Naruto focused on the hole in the middle of the plaza.

It was close to fifteen feet deep, and Naruto could see where Magohachi and his men had tried to break through the stone, but they'd clearly been unable to even crack the rock.

Expanding his range, Naruto was shocked to learn the size of the stone. It was entirely smooth, and shockingly, almost half the size of Wani City. With his increased range, Naruto located the other four wells dug throughout the city, and found that most of them weren't even near the stone. However, one had just barely missed it by a few feet.

Pouring more Chakra into his eyes, Naruto gazed through the rock to find a vast cave filled with water beneath.

"Such a simple mission, surely… surely he didn't have to come?" Magohachi whispered, and Naruto limited the Chakra flowing into his eyes, focusing back on his immediate surroundings.

"Tell me about the rock you've found," Baki ordered, ignoring Magohaci's question.

"We were making good progress for the first couple of days, and then we hit the rock. Our picks don't have any effect, they just bounce off. I nearly took out Taroemon's eye a few days ago." Magohachi explained, seeming to have lost some of his abject terror. Baki nodded.

Leaning over the edge of the well, Baki examined the smooth black surface of the stone at the bottom, though it was covered in a thin layer of sand. The well's walls had been constructed already, as digging in sand required that process to be done as soon as possible. Noticing a rope hanging over the edge of the wall, Baki walked around.

The rope was tied to a pike buried deep in the sand, and after giving the cord a pull, Baki turned to Magohachi.

"Thank you, Magohachi-san. You can leave now, we will take care of the situation and inform you when we're done." Baki said, and the old man nodded quickly before turning and walking away as fast as he dared.

Naruto watched the man retreat.

"Guess we should start with the obvious solution," Sasori commented as he walked up beside Baki and peered over the short sandstone brick wall. Forming a couple of seals in rapid succession, Sasori whispered the name of his Jutsu.

**"Earth Release: Flying Thrown Stones."**

Chakra erupted from Sasori and rapidly dived underground until it reached sandstone. Naruto watched the Chakra as it carved chunks of sandstone out and reinforced them before lifting them through the sand and into the air.

"Here goes nothing," Sasori remarked as he backed away from the well, Baki doing the same.

The chunks of sandstone darted forward and disappeared over the edge of the short wall. Less than a second later, Naruto heard them hit the stone and saw them break apart into tiny pieces.

Sasori whistled in surprise, "that is one hard rock."

Baki couldn't help but agree. Vaulting over the wall, he caught the rope and used it to slow his fall.

"You didn't even dent it!" Baki called to Sasori, who just shook his head.

"What do we do now?" Sasori asked, and Baki shrugged before leaping up the side of the well and hauling himself over the wall.

"If we use a stronger Jutsu, we're going to obliterate the well, and it will fill back up." Baki admitted, "We could end up damaging the plaza and cause it to collapse entirely."

"What do you see down there, Naruto?" Sasori asked after a moment's pause, surprising Naruto.

_I didn't even think about whether or not Sasori knew I had the Byakugan before telling Baki where the civilians were… _Naruto realized. _It seems he knows as well, though._

"It's close to a mile and a half wide, and we're standing at the center of it," Naruto explained, getting a look of surprise from Sasori and Baki. "It's close to half a mile thick, and there is a large cave full of water trapped beneath it."

"Makes sense," Sasori replied and turned back to the well, "I'm surprised that none of the other wells hit this thing.

"The south well came close. It missed by a couple of feet however," Naruto explained.

"That Byakugan of yours sure is useful," Sasori commented, and Naruto quickly checked that no one was nearby. His father had ordered him to be very careful with using the name of his Kekkai Genkai in public.

"I suggest we go and rent a hotel room for the night," Baki said as he turned away from the well. "It's going to get dark soon, and I'd like to talk to Magohachi about this well."

"Without him pissing his pants, I assume?" Sasori joked, and Baki nodded.

"That would be ideal."

"Seems good to me," Sasori said before turning to Naruto. "Alright, lead the way, Mr. All Seeing."

—

Naruto hadn't thought he would get to look at the moon tonight, but since everyone around him already knew his secret, there was no need to hide it. Bowing his head, Naruto slipped his blindfold off and deactivated his Byakugan.

Moving to the edge of the bed, Naruto found the moon in the sky through the hotel room window.

It was beautiful.

The Byakugan drained the color out of everything, and he was often surprised by how vibrant some things were when he removed his blindfold. Not only that, but the moon was impossible to see with his enhanced sight.

It was why it fascinated him.

When he'd seen it for the first time, he had activated his Byakugan to observe it more closely. Instead, it had disappeared. Naruto's father had explained that it was because the moon was too far away. That had only frustrated him.

For some reason that he couldn't explain, he wanted to observe the surface of the moon more closely than his regular sight would allow.

Twice before, he had tried to force his Byakugan beyond its limit, and the pain had been too much.

It was just too far away, and he knew that, yet he couldn't resist the urge to try again and again.

Several minutes passed before Naruto pulled himself away, finally giving up.

Instead, Naruto turned his attention to Gaara. He had never seen Gaara normally, and he was surprised to see how different the redhead looked. The most noticeable difference was the tattoo on Gaara's forehead. In reality, it was black, but in the Byakugan, it glowed brightly with Chakra.

Naruto had at first assumed it to be a seal of some kind, but was at a loss for what it did. The purpose of the seal on Gaara's stomach had been obvious. Naruto could see it using the Chakra of the Bijū that Gaara contained to keep the demon locked inside.

Physically turning his head, Naruto looked at the hotel room's door. Though he couldn't see Sasori, or even sense him, he knew the Puppeteer was on the other side, hidden by a Genjutsu as he stood on guard.

Looking to the right of the doorway, Naruto strained his eyes to see his Sensei in the darkness. He was barely able to make out Baki's rising and falling chest. Though, without his Byakugan, he couldn't be sure his Sensei was actually asleep.

However, Naruto didn't need to guess whether or not Gaara was asleep. Despite the redhead's eyes being closed, Naruto knew they were completely awake.

Gaara didn't sleep.

It had been something he'd discovered a few weeks after moving into the Kazekage Mansion. He'd woken up in the middle of the night again, and had decided to try to find Gaara. After an hour of searching, he eventually had found Gaara sitting on top of a closed restaurant, meditating.

However, Gaara hadn't been sleeping.

The next night, he'd found Gaara somewhere else late at night, and the Jinchuriki still wasn't sleeping.

Naruto had been unable to deny his curiosity. So he'd lied to Temari that he'd noticed Gaara didn't seem to sleep on the way back from Kazedama and asked her why. She'd explained it to him without question.

Apparently, when Gaara's seal had first been created, something went wrong. The effects weren't that bad in the beginning, and Gaara was able to sleep when he was very young. That changed when Gaara accidentally killed his uncle in self-defense.

After that, Gaara couldn't sleep without the One-tail he contained escaping, forcing him to stay awake all of the time. Because of this, Gaara meditated instead of sleeping.

_A horrible situation, and it explains why Gaara acts so strangely, _Naruto mused as he picked up his blindfold and slipped it over his eyes. Activating his Byakugan, Naruto immediately noticed the bright Chakra flowing through Gaara.

Realizing that Gaara was manipulating sand, Naruto looked at the floor, expecting to find sand flowing toward him.

There was nothing. The floor was barren.

Focusing on Gaara's Chakra, Naruto followed it through the gourd attached to the Jinchuriki's back and out the top. From there, it dropped to the floor and was slowly flowing through a small hole in the wall.

_The walls are full of sand,_ Naruto realized as he followed the chakra stream. _What is he doing?_

Rapidly scanning the walls, Naruto tried to find some sort of answer. His original assumption had been wrong, only the wall directly behind Gaara, and the one to his right was full of sand.

Noticing Gaara move, Naruto froze. Gaara lifted two fingers and covered his left eye before slowly forming a hand seal with his other hand. Naruto watched Chakra explode into the air as Gaara activated a Jutsu.

As quickly as it had exploded outward, the Chakra imploded and shot through Gaara's body. Naruto was barely able to keep track of it as it passed through the sand in the wall. Separating itself, the Chakra pulled some of the sand after it through a crack and began to condense into a small ball.

_Oh..._

Attached to the side of the hotel wall were two Shinobi dressed in black as they slowly crawled toward the window. Looking back at Gaara's Jutsu, Naruto was shocked to find an eyeball made of sand.

The eyeball was staring at the two mysterious Shinobi climbing up the wall.

_He knew they were there, that's why he put sand in the wall, _Naruto realized. _He's going to kill them._

The realization was exciting.

Honing his enhanced sight on the Shinobi, Naruto tried to find anything to identify who they were or where they were from. However, they'd clearly expected this, as neither of them had anything on them that could be used to identify them. Naruto didn't recognize them either.

_"_The Jinchuriki doesn't sleep, so be careful." One of the Shinobi signed at the other, who nodded in response. Naruto was glad he'd learned sign language in the Shinobi Academy before leaving to train under Baki.

Naruto jumped as sand spikes shot out of the wall, impaling both of the unknown Shinobi through the head. They died instantly, and Naruto watched as the bodies fell, the sand retracting as quickly as it had appeared.

It was only when the bodies hit the sandstone street below that Naruto noticed more of Gaara's Chakra concentrated in the sand. It took Gaara a few seconds to break through the road with the sand. Once he had, the sand grabbed the bodies and hauled them underground. The street was repaired a moment later.

_How many times has he done that already? He's protecting me… _Naruto thought. Turning to look at Gaara, Naruto found Gaara staring at him as the sand in the walls retracted back into the gourd.

—

Naruto knew that people were afraid of Gaara, but he'd never really thought about it. As he waited for Sasori to pay for their stay in the hotel, Naruto watched the civilian woman on the other side of the hotel registration desk carefully.

He hadn't paid attention to her when they'd come in to get a room last night, however, when they'd entered the lobby to leave the building, he'd immediately felt her fear.

Gaara was completely disinterested, but Naruto was fascinated.

The woman was clearly terrified of Gaara, and Naruto was sure if Gaara even looked at the woman, she would flee in terror.

_Doesn't she know that her fear makes her more noticeable?_ Naruto wondered as he watched the woman shakily accept the coins Sasori was handing her.

Hearing the front doors open, Naruto forgot about the woman and turned to find Baki entering the hotel lobby.

"How did it go?" Sasori asked, having just finished paying for their stay.

"I talked to Magohachi. He understands if we have to destroy the well, but if we can find another solution, he asked that we try that first," Baki replied. Sasori chuckled as he walked past Baki and pushed open the doors.

"Pretty sure we're going to have to destroy it no matter what," Sasori commented before turning and gesturing for Naruto and Gaara to follow him. Noticing Gaara staring at the woman behind the counter, who seemed too scared to even breathe, Sasori located the sealing tag in his kunai pouch.

"Come on, Gaara," Naruto said, and Sasori was surprised as Gaara turned away and walked over. Sasori looked at Baki in astonishment, but Baki just shrugged and stepped out onto the street.

As they walked past the street that ran down the side of the hotel, Naruto couldn't help but look at the two bodies buried a dozen feet below. When he'd woken up, he'd immediately found them, proving that the night before hadn't been a dream… or a nightmare.

Since then, Naruto had been debating whether or not to tell Sasori and Baki what had happened.

_Would telling them betray Gaara's trust?_ Naruto wondered. _It doesn't seem like he wants them to know…No, I won't tell them._

That decided, Naruto reduced the chakra flow to his eyes and focused on his immediate surroundings.

As before, the streets quickly cleared in front of them as they walked, though with noticeably less screaming this time. It only took a few minutes of brisk walking to reach the plaza, which was devoid of life before they got there.

"So, are we going to try the Rock Pillar Spears?" Baki asked as they walked up to the well.

"We can, but I don't think it's going to do much. The density of that stone is much higher than what we're going to be able to create. The fact that my Jutsu yesterday didn't even scratch it is concerning." Sasori replied as he leaned over the wall.

Naruto wasn't paying attention to Sasori or his Sensei. Instead, he was silently watching Gaara as the Jinchuriki pumped wave after wave of Chakra into the sand beneath his feet.

Baki shook his head, "who would have thought this D-rank mission would turn into this?"

"Not me," Sasori admitted, "We could try-"

"What are you doing, Gaara?" Baki demanded, causing Sasori to quickly get to his feet. Naruto could only stare in amazement at the sheer amount of Chakra flowing through the sand beneath the plaza.

A distant scream filled the air, and the ground rocked.

Four columns of sand exploded into the air at the edges of the plaza, rising higher and higher.

As Gaara lifted his hand in the air, Baki realized what was happening. Grabbing Naruto, he picked the boy up and leaped for the edge of the plaza. Sasori quickly followed.

"Should have known he'd get bored," Sasori commented, laughing as the sky began to darken.

The sand had come together in a massive cloud above Gaara and was beginning to spin rapidly.

Gaara lifted his other hand.

The sand condensed, spinning faster and faster as it took a drill-like appearance.

**"Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral!"**

Gaara slammed both of his palms on the ground, and the drill dropped. For a second, everything was silent.

Naruto stumbled as the ground shook again, and immediately covered his ears in a futile attempt to block out the horrible screeching. The air quickly became filled with a sand cloud as Gaara's drill chucked the debris into the air behind it.

Spotting Gaara in the cloud, Naruto saw that the sand was protecting Gaara, despite him standing right at the edge of the massive hole.

Peering through the ground, Naruto was shocked to find the drill had almost reached the other side. A moment later, it was through. Naruto expected Gaara to simply drop the sand drill into the water below, but instead, it reversed course.

Lifting the heavily condensed sand into the air, Gaara moved it to the side and let his hand fall.

The ground trembled slightly as the sand dropped with a thud.

Sasori burst into laughter.

* * *

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	18. Karma

As Baki quietly watched his comrades and leader plan out a battle strategy, he couldn't help but think about how many innocent lives would be lost.

There was nothing they could do about it either, and while he understood that, Baki resented it. His first urge had been to suggest evacuating civilians out of Suna immediately, but that would lead to killing more than they saved.

The scouts had come back with too little information. They'd been unable to find any encampment by Kumo. Instead, they'd only brought back more worrying rumors.

A battle was coming, and it could very quickly become a war.

_Thousands will die…_ Baki thought as he blankly watched Rasa explain his plan to his commanders. They were all inside Rasa's office, and like himself, Sasori was off to the side, his eyes closed.

Baki didn't like war, though he didn't hate it either. It was necessary at times, but that didn't make it any less terrible. If anything, since the end of the Warring States Era, the wars had only gotten more bloody, the body counts higher.

The end of the Warring States Era had supposed to bring about peace, and in some ways, it had. Civilians were thriving, and by extension, the Shinobi were as well.

Which had only resulted in more Shinobi dying.

For some reason that Baki couldn't understand, Kumo was here in the Land of Wind. If the goal was to attack Suna, which was the most logical choice, Baki couldn't figure out what they would gain by doing so.

_The Land of Lightning is on the other side of the Elemental Nations from the Land of Wind… and the Land of Fire will never let them take over our country because then the power balance would be thrown off, _Baki mused. _Not that the power balance isn't already fucked._

At the very least, Baki was relieved that the Land of Fire didn't seem to have any dogs in this fight. If knowledge of Naruto's Byakugan was to get out… Baki feared to think what sort of hell would descend upon them.

The Hyūga Clan would be furious, and they had more than enough power to move the entire country against them.

_Perhaps, somehow, Kumo has discovered that Naruto possesses the Byakugan, and that's why they are here. It's no secret they've wanted the Byakugan for two dozen years._

Baki sighed and pushed off the wall to rejoin the conversation.

"I want security on the walls raised," Rasa ordered, getting a nod from the Commander in charge of the wall guard. "Fill the gaps, I don't want any more spies getting in or out."

"Could that give away that we're onto them?" Nakazo, one of Suna's most experienced Shinobi, asked.

Rasa nodded slowly, looking back down at the map of Suna on his desk. "Yes, it could."

"It's a risk we're going to have to take. We've let this go on too long." Baki interjected, and many of the Commanders nodded in agreement.

"We don't know when they will attack, or even if they will attack Suna first," Sasori said, also rejoining the conversation.

"Yes, the uncertainty is dangerous," Rasa agreed.

"How can we be so sure that Kumo has Shinobi in the Land of Wind?" Tessai, who was standing to the left of Rasa's desk, asked.

"We aren't," Sasori admitted, shrugging. "That's the problem. Rasa-sama sent out scouts four days ago, and they were unable to find anything to the north and east of Suna. If Kumo is in the country… either the scouts missed them completely… or they're already past Suna."

The statement was chilling. Suna had been strategically placed to be able to quickly reinforce any area on the border in the case of an invasion. The First Kazekage's planning had been what enabled Suna to repel Kumo's incursion into the Sakaime Forest.

But... If Kumo had gotten past Suna...

"Surely, there is no way!" Tessai said, shocked.

"It depends on how many Shinobi there are…" Junnosuke, a Shinobi who'd fought in the First Great Ninja War, and was now retired, said.

"If it was a small force, then the Shinobi stationed at each village and city should be sufficient. At least to hold their ground until we could assist them," Sasori said, and Junnosuke agreed.

"Yes, I agree, a large number of Shinobi couldn't get past Suna without us noticing. However, from what we have to work with, it seems probable that Kumo is here to attack a city." Junnosuke said, and his expression made it clear he expected others to finish his thought.

"Shit," Nakazo whispered.

"We can only hope," Rasa said, shaking his head before leaning back in his chair. "If the Eight-tails Jinchuriki is in the Land of Wind, there isn't much we can do. "

"Will Gaara fight for us?"

Rasa pursed his lips, unsure of how to answer.

"I believe he will," Sasori said, drawing several looks of surprise.

"What could they possibly want?" Tessai wondered aloud.

Leaning forward in his chair, Rasa folded his hands in front of him.

"You all know what you need to do." Rasa said, pulling everyone out of their thoughts, "you're dismissed."

The room cleared abruptly, the Commanders activating Shunshin and vanishing in swirls of sand as they rushed to complete their orders. Only two remained.

Having noticed Rasa's gesture for him to stay, Baki sat down in one of the now-empty chairs as he waited for Rasa to finish rolling up the map.

"I will be leaving today," Rasa said, his back turned as he put the map away in the cabinet behind his desk.

"Is this really the best time?" Baki asked, though he already knew what Rasa would say.

"No, it's not. However, I need to talk to Torio." Rasa said as he sat back down in his chair. "I can't help but think that Kumo is here for Naruto."

"How could they have possibly known?" Baki asked though he wasn't expecting an answer.

"We've heard nothing of the Assassins since Naruto was brought to Suna. As I requested, Torio has been sending me coded scrolls every two weeks, and nothing." Rasa said, and Baki sighed.

"So, the Assassins are here in Suna then?"

Rasa didn't answer.

"Should we put Naruto under security?" Baki asked, and Rasa shook his head, causing his second-in-command to look at him in surprise.

"He's already the safest person in Suna," Rasa said, and Baki understood immediately.

"I see…"

Without a doubt, Gaara was the best protection for Naruto.

_Still… nothing is guaranteed with Gaara._ Baki thought. _The Daimyō wanted Gaara to be assigned as Naruto's bodyguard, and somehow… that's happened… did he know that this would happen?_

"Do you really think that Gaara being Naruto's bodyguard is safe?" Baki asked, still unsure.

Catching the scroll that Rasa tossed him, Baki unfurled it and realized it was from the Captain of Gaara's protection detail. As usual, the Captain's report was short and to the point, saying that Gaara was showing significantly increased interest in Naruto.

"In some way that is beyond me, my son has become attached to Naruto," Rasa said.

Baki set the scroll down and stared at it for a few moments, deep in thought.

"Do you think Gaara is already protecting Naruto, and that we've not noticed? "

"I do," Rasa said seriously, and Baki rubbed his eyes, trying to process this new information. Never in his life did he think that Gaara would ever protect _anyone_ of his own accord, and yet, it seemed like he was.

Baki laughed, causing Rasa to look at him knowingly.

"Doesn't seem possible, I know. However, this is why I have to go to Kazedama now, while I still have time. If Suna is attacked while I'm gone, and they are after Naruto, I believe Gaara will protect him." Rasa said, standing up.

**Kumo War Camp, Land of Wind, EN.**

"Darui-sama?"

Turning around, Darui looked at the masked RAIKOU Captain standing behind him expectantly. All of the Captains in RAIKOU appeared almost identical, to prevent being able to target one specifically.

"Yes?"

The RAIKOU Captain bowed.

"I am Captain Lightning, Sir. I'm here to report that the Seal Masters have broken the prisoner's seals, and to request permission to begin with interrogation."

"Ah, Ashito-san," Darui said. "Permission granted."

Ashito bowed again and left.

Turning around, Darui leaned on the table, thinking.

This was a significant breakthrough. It had been through sheer luck that the advance RAIKOU team had not only captured the prisoner, but had also been able to move him out of Suna without detection.

However, when the suicide seal had been discovered, along with an unknown seal on their tongue, Darui had been sure that it was a dead end. Ashito had been determined to try anyway.

_This mysterious group with no name concerns me…_ Darui mused. _Perhaps I should observe the interrogation._

Quickly rolling up the scrolls spread across the table, Darui gestured for his protection detail to follow him and stepped out of the command tent. Shading his eyes, Darui looked around the camp for the new building.

Spotting it at the edge of the clearing, Darui began making his way towards it. The building was explicitly for prisoners, and only slightly more secure than a tent. It had been thrown together a few days ago and was little more than stone.

Nodding to his men as he passed, Darui reached his destination, and the RAIKOU member stationed outside opened the door for him.

"Darui-sama," Ashito greeted, his voice emotionless. Darui realized he'd expected him to be surprised, but that wasn't going to happen. However, the other Shinobi in the room was surprised to see him, bowing as he entered.

"Darui-sama."

He smiled, "Ah, Iwata-san, I'm surprised to see you here."

"Yes, I requested to be here for the prisoner's interrogation," Iwata replied, trying to keep a confident appearance.

"Why, might I ask?" Darui asked, keeping his voice emotionless.

"This man killed my brother, Sir," Iwata explained quickly.

Thinking for a moment, he turned away and began walking across the room toward the cell. "I'll allow it."

"Thank you, Sir," Iwata said, trying to not show her relief.

Darui ignored her, focusing instead on the prisoner behind bars in front of him. The man was in peak physical condition, and undoubtedly a powerful Shinobi. Darui doubted many Shinobi were as in shape as the prisoner was.

_Who is this, exactly?_

"Are we waking him up?" Darui asked, turning to Ashito, who gestured to the RAIKOU standing at the cell door entrance.

"Yes, Sir, however, I was waiting for you to arrive."

"You know me too well," Darui said as he turned away and watched the RAIKOU stick a syringe in the prisoner's shoulder. A moment later, Darui and his comrades disappeared, shrouded in Genjutsu as one of the RAIKOU finished their hand seals.

—

With practice born of years of training, Tera's breathing didn't change as he woke up.

The first thing he noticed was that his head hurt, followed by the feeling of rope around his wrists. He was restrained, though by who, was a mystery. Taking care to not give anything away, Tera attempted to feel out his chakra and discerned he was still drugged.

_There are other people in this room… at least five,_ Tera thought. He could barely feel the chakra signatures nearby, but it was enough.

He waited for a moment to see if the drug was fading, but his chakra continued to refuse to respond.

_It's Chakra cuffs… damn it._

Giving up, he cracked his eyes slightly and immediately noticed he was shirtless, and that as he'd thought, the suicide seal was gone. There was no way to tell if the seal on his tongue was gone, but it was probably safe to assume it was.

Painfully lifting his head, Tera groaned as he took in the dimly lit room. He was in a cell, little more than six feet across. There were no windows, but there was a door on the far wall.

_Temporary cell room then, _Tera realized, _That rules out Suna… so who then?_

Keeping up the appearance of a groggy and confused prisoner, Tera blinked slowly, as if trying to see through the darkness of the room. He even gave the restrains a test and pretended to be shocked.

As he'd known they would, a Shinobi appeared out of thin air in his cell, a mere few feet in front of him. It was a RAIKOU Captain.

Tera chuckled quietly.

_Of course, it's Kumo..._

"Shinobi-san, it's clear that you've undergone intense training." The black-masked RAIKOU Captain in front of him said, their voice emotionless. "So, I'm not going to bother with normal interrogation tactics, and am instead going to ask if you'd prefer to do this the easy way."

Tera stared at them. He was surprised but didn't show it. It was a fantastic offer, but his honor would never let him accept it. He couldn't go to his grave knowing he'd willingly betrayed his master.

"I appreciate it…" Tera coughed, not having realized how dry his throat was. "Your offer, however, I can't accept it."

The RAIKOU Captain nodded.

The cell door opened, and a young boy suddenly appeared in the doorway.

Tera felt like laughing. The boy was a Yamanaka, and from the chains on his ankles, clearly a prisoner of Kumo.

_The irony…_ Tera thought as he watched the young boy make his way behind him. Upon seeing the Yamanaka, Tera had immediately recognized them as the Yamanaka he had kidnapped and sold to Kumo seven years before.

Feeling the boy's hands on the sides of his head, Tera relaxed and closed his eyes.

"Begin, Yoshinaka!"

—

Iwata didn't usually decide things based on her gut feeling, but when she did, she stuck with it. Her punishment for her mistake would be severe, she knew that, but she didn't care.

She had to be here, to see the man who killed her brother suffer.

Of course, there was no evidence that the Shinobi in the cell in front of her had killed Katai… but she knew it was him.

If she was demoted, or worse, Iwata didn't care, Darui could do his worst. Seeing the bastards face constrict in pain made it all worth it.

A moment of silence passed, during which the prisoner's face seemed to calm. Iwata resisted the urge to speak, knowing she was on a thin edge. Whatever goodwill she had with Darui was gone, and one miss-step would have her out on her head.

"Yoshinaka," Ashito said, and the boy jumped as if remembering where he was. Iwata realized she'd never seen the Yamanaka prisoner before, having just heard stories about him and bits of conversation. From what she knew, he was one of Kumo's many aces in the hole.

He was unique in more ways than one, such as the fact that he hadn't gone through Kumo's brainwashing to make him loyal to Kumo, as he'd been too old when they'd obtained him. Additionally, she'd heard he was infertile. Therefore making him the only Yamanaka they had, so they couldn't risk driving him insane through torture.

Iwata couldn't help the grin as the prisoner jumped in their chair and yelled, Yoshinaka clearly now more focused.

For the most part, Yoshinaka spent his life in a lavish cell room, only being allowed out to interrogate various prisoners when usual means proved insufficient. The boy was frail and kept that way intentionally.

The Yamanaka Kekkai Genkai was not to be underestimated, and the boy was only allowed to be handled by RAIKOU, who could resist the mental invasion.

Noticing the prisoner suddenly stopped moving, Iwata looked at him in confusion, trying to figure out what had happened.

She was about to ask if he'd passed out when he screamed louder than he had before.

"Roots… of a tree… the tree…" Yoshinaka said quietly, his eyes half-closed as he stared at the prisoner's head between his hands. The prisoner was shaking now, and Yoshinaka was clearly struggling to keep his grip. "The shadows that protect the great tree."

"More specific, Yoshinaka," Ashito ordered emotionlessly, and the gaunt-looking boy nodded fearfully before concentrating. The screams rose.

"He is the leader of an organization… once called ROOT." Yoshinaka said, stammering as he lost contact with the prisoner for a moment. Iwata saw blood beginning to trickle out of the prisoner's nose, and couldn't help but smile at the sight.

_Suffer you bastard… like you made my brother suffer._

"It was created by Danzō Shimura… of the Land of Fire…"

"Continue," Ashito ordered.

Taking a deep breath, Yoshinaka seemed to refocus himself, and the prisoner once more became silent.

"The creator was executed by the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, for treason. Their last orders were to avenge Danzō's death, and bring about the Land of Fire's destruction." Yoshinaka stammered suddenly, his eyes widening in shock. Iwata was surprised to see rage and anger building in the boy.

_At least we're in the clear… ROOT is a rogue organization… If the Land of Fire was also after the stone…_ Iwata shuddered to think of the bloodshed and war that would come about.

The intensity in Yoshinaka's eyes shocked Iwata. It was a stark contrast to the boy's appearance a few moments before.

"To bring about their objectives," Yoshinaka said, his voice and hands trembling. "They _kidnapped _and sold bloodline children to the Land of Fire's enemies… to make them stronger."

_Oh... Interesting._

"Focus, Yoshinaka!" Ashito ordered, taking a step forward. Yoshinaka recoiled in fear, nodding quickly, his anger vanishing.

"While… while kidnapping children, they raided the libraries of numerous clans for any useful information they could use against the Land of Fire," Yoshinaka said after a moment.

The prisoner seemed to have given up, his head dropped to his chest.

"During a raid on the Sengwari Clan, ROOT discovered an old robe in a display case. One of their members recognized it, having seen two old men traveling through the Land of Wind wearing similar clothes over a decade before."

"So the monks did escape with it after all," Darui mused aloud, his voice blocked from entering the cell by the Genjutsu.

"They didn't know what it meant at the the time, so left it behind. It was only a year later that ROOT discovered the symbol on the robe belonged to the Order of Liberty."

Iwata was shocked. Even though Kumo had been acting on the information she had obtained, she still hadn't believed that the Stone of Legend still existed. Secretly, she'd hoped it had been destroyed. It was too late now.

"ROOT decided to investigate, and moved their operations into the Land of Wind. Spies were planted in every city and village. After a few months, and by sheer luck, a medic-nin they had bribed reported a man in their hospital wearing a robe with the symbol." Yoshinaka said, no longer being resisted by the prisoner in front of him. Either they'd realized it was pointless, or Yoshinaka had broken their mind. Iwata hoped it was the latter.

"However, before ROOT was able to get to the hospital, the man died. The hospital reports said that he died without saying a word, and listed him as extremely senile and possibly demented." Yoshinaka said, his posture beginning to fall. "ROOT believed it to be a dead-end, but watched the monk's body regardless."

Ashito gestured for someone to enter, and a masked RAIKOU appeared in the room. They lifted a canteen of water to Yoshinaka's lips and helped him drink all of it.

Licking his lips, Yoshinaka tried to pull himself together. He'd had more difficult minds, but only because he hadn't gotten angry before.

Yoshinaka knew he'd probably overdone it, and could only hope that his owners didn't want more information out of the prisoner. Being as detailed as possible was vital, otherwise, he might be forced to interrogate the man's mind again… and who knew what state his mind would be in by then.

Entering the mind of the insane was dangerous, as one could easily be driven mad as well.

"A few days after the monk died, the body was moved by the medic nins to the morgue. A funeral was held, paid for by the Daimyō. The only attendee was the Daimyō himself, though he was disguised as a civilian. They kidnapped the Daimyō's wife a few days later and attempted to blackmail the Daimyō with her life. Instead of giving them the stone, the Daimyō attempted to save her, and she died in the fight. Afterward, ROOT attacked the Daimyō directly, and eventually, his son, but every attempt failed." Yoshinaka said and took a deep breath before shakily releasing his grip on the prisoner's head and getting to his feet.

"In a final attempt, Tera," Yoshinaka said, gesturing to the prisoner in front of him, "and his second-in-command stayed back and carefully observed the fight. Similar to every attack on the Daimyō before, all of their men died. The Daimyō killed them with a Kekkei Genkai they had never seen before."

"Explain it," Ashito ordered, and Yoshinaka bit his lip hard.

"It's hard to explain, Ashito-sama. Tera only caught a glimpse of it. I can only describe it as an explosion of chakra that kills everyone nearby… instantly."

Iwata heart raced and she knew everyone was having the same thoughts as her.

This proved it. A new Kekkei Genkai hadn't happened for well over three decades ever since the Order of Liberty was attacked by Kumo, and the Stone of Legend supposedly destroyed.

"Very good, Yoshinaka," Ashito said and gestured to the invisible RAIKOU by the cell door. Yoshinaka lost consciousness instantly, the seal on the back of his neck activating a second later. He was caught by the RAIKOU, who hoisted him on his shoulder and walked out of the cell. Yoshinaka would be kept unconscious until he returned to Kumo.

Iwata felt the invisibility Jutsu fade away, and walked up to the bars, staring at the slumped over prisoner intently.

"Is he unconscious?"

Ashito shook his head and gestured for her to be silent. Iwata bit her tongue.

"Your organization was always a pain in our side," Ashito remarked as he walked closer to the prisoner. "It prevented us from kidnapping bloodline children in the Land of Fire for several years."

Crouching down in front of the prisoner, Ashito removed his matte-black mask and sealed it away.

"I'm sure you can see the irony in ROOT trying to destroy the only thing they were created to protect." Ashito paused, but the prisoner said nothing.

"It seems your loyalty was misplaced."

Silence.

"How could the great ROOT, the protectors of the great tree, fail so utterly?" Ashito inquired, his mocking tone surprising Iwata.

"You must have let the fame go to your head, I suppose." Ashito said as he stood, "However, I must thank you. You have provided Kumo with the information we need to obtain the stone for ourselves. We will soon capture the Prince, and then easily succeed where you've failed."

The prisoner's laugh sent chills down Iwata's spine. It was the laugh of a man who had lost his sanity. Lifting his head, the prisoner stared at Ashito with wide eyes.

"Good fucking luck!"

Ashito smoothly stepped to the side, avoiding the prisoner's attempt to spit at him.

"Darui-sama…" Iwata whispered, and the Commander looked at her curiously. "I know… but please, sir. This man killed my brother… please let me have this…"

Iwata would have gotten down on her knees and begged if she'd thought that would help. The complete lack of emotion Darui's eyes was unsettling.

Darui nodded.

Bowing quickly, Iwata opened the cell door and stepped inside.

Walking up to the prisoner, Iwata grabbed him by the throat and forced him to look at her.

"What happened to my brother! The Shinobi you killed at our Embassy in Suna and didn't leave behind?!" Iwata shouted as loudly as she dared, barely resisting the urge to crush the man's neck.

The prisoner's laugh infuriated her, and she squeezed tighter, making him choke.

"We hunted him like a dog for days… then I slit his throat and watched him bleed out!" The prisoner shouted at her, clearly enjoying telling her about her brother's fate. Iwata wanted to ask where her brother's body was, but she already knew the answer.

"Why didn't you leave him at the Embassy!" Iwata screamed, punching the man in the jaw as hard as she could.

Spitting blood on the ground, he laughed and kept laughing.

"He knew too much! We couldn't risk it." The prison said, his head lolling back on the chair as he stared at the ceiling. Blood trailing down his chin. "Clearly, that didn't work."

Twisting around, Iwata stared at Darui.

Darui nodded, and Iwata drew a Kunai as she whirled around and buried it in the bastard's chest.

She watched the life drain out of his eyes, savoring every single second of it.

* * *

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\- Ashito (Shika)


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